Live Report: Rubarb Music launch party at Whelan's

Recognising the precarious path young musicians face, Grammy-winning mix engineer and producer from Camden Studios Ruadhri Cushnan has launched Rubarb - a new Ireland-based artist development label.

“As a producer/mixer, I would come across so many brilliant creatives who have to do so much by themselves and usually on a shoestring budget,” he told Hot Press. “I felt more and more the need to start some kind of label that could assist in the process of making the best record possible and then help strategize their release plans.”

Joining him at the helm is Shea McNelis. The Galway native has a background in music management and promotion, but in recent years has built various businesses, winning the Dublin Entrepreneur of the Year 2025.

The duo say they’re not too fussy about genre and are instead focusing on authenticity. A launch party in Whelan’s on Tuesday evening provided a glimpse into the range of talent they’re nurturing.

First to take the stage was Harry Fennell. ‘60s songwriters (the good ones) are his lodestars, and while he cites Leonard Cohen, there’s also some Nilsson humour, a Dylan-esque eye for the absurd and a splash of Ray Davies.

‘Ablutions’, his latest release about the Irish tendency to drink our feelings away, diffuses a smoky, mid-period Kinks quality, through its dark twang and lonesome imagery.

Still, Fennell is his own thing, and his accent in particular cuts through. The band also deserves a mention. A selfless and tasteful bunch, they elevated the songwriter’s divebar folk-rock with swelling country guitars, rubbery bass and tight drumming.

Harry Fennell at Rubarb launch party in Whelan's. Photo: Abigail Ring.

Indiana native and adopted Dubliner Galia Arad was next. Many of her candid tunes concern themselves with passenger seat heartbreaks and fleeting romances, á la Taylor Swift. She similarly flaunts an obvious knack for catchy, well-constructed pop songs.

Between tunes she’s cocky and full of banter; singling out men in the audience, including her new label boss, and announcing them as ‘zaddies’ (look it up).

The vivid storytelling of ‘How Much Trouble Are We In’ was a highlight. The track speaks of a child trying to make sense of climate change, though the planet is the least of his boozing and fighting parents' concerns. It's innocent and heartbreaking, underlining how the big picture is often blurred by individual demons.

Jerry Fish and Galia Arad at Rubarb launch party in Whelan's. Photo: Abigail Ring.

Martina and the Moons, who closed out the evening, were a different and distorted proposition altogether.

Their stage presence is cool and their sound is heavy. There’s definitely some ‘90s alt-rock shining through; slower tunes had a Mazzy Star-like fug to them, while energetic basslines were a constant, providing a melodic and harmonic anchor underneath the wall of feedback.

Frontwoman Martina Moon exudes attitude, going off on insouciant spoken word ramblings one minute and yawping her lungs out the next. And then there's the Gaga. They rip through a fast and raw rendition of ‘Applause’, turning that anthem of narcissism and validation into the punk song it was always destined to be.

A promising start for Rubarb that validates Cushnan and McNelis’ endeavours.

Martina and the Moons at Rubarb launch party in Whelan's. Photo: Abigail Ring.