Since its inception in 1992, Rubadub has been more than just a record shop. It has become a cultural institution, fostering creativity, innovation, and an enduring sense of community in the heart of Scotland’s largest city. Initially rooted in the burgeoning sounds of underground dance music, Rubadub quickly became synonymous with genres like techno, house, dub, and experimental electronica. The shop has consistently championed independent artists and labels, showcasing an eclectic mix of records that cater to both seasoned DJs and casual listeners alike. 

In the 1990s the store was considered pivotal in pushing the global techno movement alongside like-minded sellers like Hardwax in Berlin, or the discontinued taste makers FatCat in London or Sonic Groove in New York City. Over the years, it has also cultivated a deep connection to Glasgow’s nightlife, serving as a dynamic bridge between the city’s dance floors and the global music underground. 

Today, the store's influence extends far beyond its record bins, as Rubadub is also a notorious retailer of music production gear, catering to the needs of both budding producers and established professionals. From synthesizers and drum machines to mixers and turntables: the shop has become a trusted resource for musicians looking to improve their sound, offering expert advice and hands-on support. Its gear offerings reflect the same ethos as its record assortment: quality, creativity, and accessibility. 
 
What sets Rubadub apart is its unwavering dedication to the community. Over its 32-year history, it has fostered countless connections between artists, DJs, and fans, while remaining fiercely independent in the face of an ever-changing and evolving industry. Rubadub isn’t just a retailer - it’s a vital part of Glasgow’s pop cultural DNA, a place where music lovers of all corners come together to discover, create, and share. 
 
From its humble beginnings to its position as a globally respected institution, Rubadub’s legacy is one of passion, resilience, and an unshakable commitment to music. After working with the institution on several tape releases with the likes of Gavsborg's “Presents: Select”, or the Seekers International “Healing HiFi” cassette, we thought it was time to invite the Rubadub crew out for an EDWIN MUSIC CHANNEL series. Check their mix that unites dark-ish sounds by Swedish producer Civilistjavel and Berlin’s droning glitch-producer Slowfoam with Dub techno by Ghost Dubs, the tricky rhythms of up-and-coming Belgian producer Sagat, and a dubbed minimal classic by the legendary Monolake. As ever we spoke with our hosts. Read below what Rubadub’s Mark Maxwell, Daniel Lurinsky, and Richard Chater revealed to us about the legacy of the store, their ongoing success in an ever-evolving, always newly shaping underground music culture, and some places to go, when in Glasgow. 

Q. Hello Mark, Dan and Richard, how did you end up doing what you do and not something else? Can you give our readers a brief introduction to the Rubadub zone? What does each one of you do over there? And how did it all start in 1992? What have been some moments, that are pivotal for what you are and do today?  
 
Mark: It’s probably kinda hard to summarize Rubadub as a whole over the past 32 years without taking all sorts of weird tangents, but in short, we specialize in selling mostly underground electronic music and associated ephemera, music technology and independent music distribution. I’m part of the shop-regular to member-of-staff pipeline, here for 13 years and have been involved in quite a few aspects across the business in that time. Currently, I manage the shop and help with online stuff and purchasing as well as product specialist bits in the tech/synth end too. It’s wholly a team effort though for sure: we’re a small crew, so everybody here is an essential cog in the machine.    
 
Dan: I started off as a customer, going into the Virginia Galleries store before that building was closed down due to safety concerns. I then became a distribution customer through another record store I worked in and when that closed down Barrie [Watson] very kindly offered me a job at Rubadub [there may have been a few pints involved, and he may not have run it past Martin & Wilba first…] 
 
25 years on I'm still here at Rubadub, I spent the first 20 years fully immersed in the shop, starting with general shop floor duties and record buying [I had experience in this from previously working in two other record stores] before becoming the store “manager”. In that time Rubadub has evolved and grown quite a lot, one of the main changes would be our expansion of equipment offerings, when I started, we sold some DJ extras like carts, styli etc. and now we offer pretty much everything you need to set up a full recording studio for production or to kit out a club space. Since COVID I have mainly been working from our warehouse apart from one or two days a week in the shop, these days I’m more involved in equipment buying and our online sales. 
 
I’d say that my pivotal moment was the day I started working at Rubadub, it has been a daily education in music [and life!] for me ever since, and I'm sure the rest of the crew would say the same. There have been plenty more big moments along the way, from our legendary birthday parties in-store to more sensible stuff like getting the warehouse which has allowed us to grow our distribution network and of course our stock holding. That and all the great people we have been able to employ to get us where we are today. 
 
Richard: I’m the guy not to ask about modular, synths or CDJ’s  
 
Q. Are you only working at Rubadub, or are you also doing music, DJ and more? If so, can you tell us what you do on top?  
 
Mark: I’ve been DJing for nearly 25 years, as well as making “music”, currently under the name Mother, and rarely professionally. I’ve run the labels Heated Heads and Concrete Cabin (alongside Al White) and usually have my finger in some sort of extra-curricular music-related pie. For better or worse! 
 
Dan: I also DJ and attempt to make music [when I get the time] and have run a couple of labels and clubs over the years, most notably DABJ and Monox, and also the Frequency Consortium show for local Radio station Radio Beuna Vida. 
 
Richard: Mostly attempting to accept the fact that I'm getting old but alongside Neil and Calum Morton, I co-run the Numbers record label, where we've been releasing music and organizing parties for over 20 years. While Neil and Calum handle the majority of the label's operations, I contribute where I can when I'm not working at Rubadub or chasing after my children. I also do a monthly radio show on Glasgow's Clyde Built station and walk my dog.

Q. If you could describe the Rubadub universe in one sentence, what would you say?  
 
Richard: Music for heads & feet. 
 
Q. Besides selling music, Rubadub also distributes the music of labels and sells music production gear. What is more important or do both fields ensure that all works smoothly so everybody can make ends meet?  
 
Mark: They’re all equal under the RAD umbrella, but it’s rare all three are firing on all cylinders at the same time haha. As in, one month distribution will be up and retail slightly down, and vice versa. But that’s the nature of the game.  
 
Q. What are some fresh labels that you distribute that stand out? And what are some classic labels, that still stay strong and have an ongoing influence on the electronic music culture until today? 
 
Richard: It's impossible to single out some labels as everything is influential in its own way, but I like to look at it as one big house. The foundations being the Detroit stuff - Underground Resistance / Submerge and Stephen Hitchell's Echospace label, then we got the likes of Mood Hut, Apron, Rhythm Section, Voam, Pacific Rhythm, Numbers and countless others before we got to the slightly younger labels such as Motion Ward, 12th Isle, Timedance, FELT, Re:Lax, Few Crackles, Scenic Route,  IDWT / Chaos In The CBD etc. In between those, you have got artists ranging from UR to Civillestjavel! to SOPHIE.  

Q. The store was hailed as part of the “axis of techno” (with Hardwax in Berlin, Sonic Groove in New York City and closed FatCat in London.) Is this title still relevant today or did things move on in terms of style and musical orientation? 
 
Mark: Hey, we’ll take that. We’ve shared a long history and a lot of love with all three of those institutions, still to this day with Hard Wax. You can definitely come to Rubadub and grab a bunch of weird stuff that doesn’t fit the regular Techno paradigm though, and that was certainly the case when I started buying records here as a teenager too. That was a time when Club music and Experimental music sat very comfortably alongside each other, without being overly academized, and we try to keep that going.   
 
Q. Is there still a strong link to Detroit? If so, how does it work? And with whom from Motor City? 
 
Mark: Yeah, we’ve been dealing with Submerge / Underground Resistance for nigh-on 30 years and working with Sound Signature and Mahogany Music for a long time too. Not to mention Norm Talley, Mike Huckaby RIP! Special shouts to 100 Limousines and Limited Network too. 
 
Richard: We're there to facilitate the flow of music from Detroit to the rest of Europe and beyond. Working with labels and artists who press their records in Detroit and then hit us up to make sure the shops over here are stocking their records. It's a privilege for us to do so as there is no Rubadub without Detroit. The link is strong and forever evolving and alongside the countless legends, we proudly distribute records by the new crop of Detroit producers - Max Watts, Huey Mnemonic, Salar Ansari, 2Lanes, Deon Jamar, Hi-Tek, John FM, Manuel Gonzales, Portage Garage Sounds crew.

Q. How is the vinyl business today? Is it still strong, or do digital sales run the show?  
 
Mark: Generally, vinyl sales for us have been very strong in the past year or two in the shop and online. I’m at a bit of a loss as to why really: every time I think this thing is going to nosedive into the abyss it seems to bounce back. People do like to engage with the past though, whether that’s new audiences finding out about classic records and labels, or seasoned vets looking to replace mashed-up OGs. There’s never been a better time to do that with vinyl. And the amount of good new music is almost endless too.  
   
Q. Generally, what's your view on the value of music today? In what way does the abundance of music change our perception of it?  
 
Mark: I think there’s still a lot of value placed on music, depending on where you’re coming from with it. It’s pretty easy to get disillusioned with platforms like Spotify and what’s happening with social media etc. in terms of where the industry is at, and I don’t blame people for feeling that way. But it’s important to remember that there has been, and still is, an almost cottage industry that often exists outside of those realms, and there will always be people who value and support that with their time and wallets. Electronic music has been at its most popular in the last ten years than at arguably any other time in history, but most of what we trade in still has a pretty limited appeal. That appeal sustains us, but that’s not to say it’s always easy.    
   
Q. After over 30 years and lots of changes, what distinguishes Rubadub from other record stores?  
 
Mark: In terms of records, compared to the other real ones out there persevering, not a huge amount tbh. I guess we’ve got our own thing, which is hard to pin down, but a big distinction is that we not only sell records, but we sell the tools to make records too. As far as I know, we’re one of the only physical shops in the world that do specialist electronic instruments, and the music associated and made with that technology, in the same space. You could buy a Jungle record and walk out with a sampler to make your own Jungle record - and there are a hundred examples like that! The move into selling gear was just a natural progression from staff past & present being super into music technology and making music in their own time. It just makes sense and I’m not sure why there aren’t more places like that really. Same with the DJ stuff: a lot of young people can’t afford to build up a vinyl collection, never mind two turntables and a mixer. But they could maybe save up a bit of money for a little DJ controller. It’s just about encouraging whoever wants to get into this thing to do it. Any means necessary!

Q. How did you select the tracks for your EDWIN MUSIC CHANNEL mix?  
 
Mark: Me and Dan put the mix together, two parts each employing a little creative license, if you will. It’s just stuff we’re feeling, old and new, both personally and in relation to Rubadub's past and present: a line that gets harder to distinguish as time goes on! There’s a lot of fresh stuff in the first half, moving into some stripped-back, rawer personal classics from Detroit, Chicago, London & Edinburgh.      
   
Q. What old albums have you rediscovered lately and what makes them special?  
 
Mark: Neil Landstrumm’s “Understanding Disinformation”. This album is slightly before my time tbh, but TEST (the club night Landstrumm was involved with here in Glasgow) was pivotal to my early club experiences, and it reminds me of those times. I dunno, it’s weird and hard but it grooves. Like Scotland! 
 
Richard: I've been revisiting a lot of early UK rap music after reading "Megablast" by Mark McDonald. It's not one album per se, but these records – artists like Hardnoise, London Posse, Demon Boys, Caveman, Gunshot, Katch 22, MC Mello, and Hijack – were the soundtrack to a huge part of my teenage years. 
 
Dan: The huge influx of Muslimgauze reissues have certainly been keeping me busy, its mind blowing how much quality music he recorded in a relatively short period of time before he passed away.  
 
Q. Who are you listening to these days? Can you name three upcoming producers, that you feel, need more attention?  
 
Richard: Conna Harraway 
 
Mark: Sockethead 
 
Dan: scopeotaku 
  
Q. How do music and other aspects of your life feed back into each other? Do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?  
   
Mark: I think if you were sensible you would try to have at least some kind of separation, but for me, it’s really just one big soup at this stage. Everything feeds back into everything else, through books, film, music and art. Constantly searching for things of interest out of simple curiosity. It’s great - music is the best. Minestrone.  
 
 Q. Can you name us some things that you haven't done yet, but always wanted to?  
 
Richard: Release a compilation's worth of Omar Santana edits.  
 
Mark: Have a studio with wood panelling.  
 
Dan: Buy an abandoned hut in the middle of nowhere and turn it into a personal music space / escape pod. 
   
Q. You are based in Glasgow. What are your favourite spots and secrets in your hometown that you would recommend to somebody who comes around for a visit?  
 
Mark: If you’re out record shopping, you should visit our friends at Monorail, Palais De Danse or Mixed Up, and Good Press for some physical print/book action too. If you’re hungry, go see our Syrian friends directly next door at Lazord. Clubs and venues - EXIT, Old Hairdressers, La Cheetah, The Flying Duck.  
 
Richard: A Guinness in The Laurieston is essential and if you’re hanging around in the shop till closing on a Friday then there is a good chance we’ll join you.  
 
Dan: All of the above, plus nothing beats a walk or cycle along the river Clyde heading north or south.

Photography: Matthew Arthur Williams

TRACKLIST:
Carre - Open 
PUB - Foriver Poddle 
Muslimgauze - Yasser Arafats Radio 
Civilistjavel - XVII 
Slowfoam - I left this planet to return a mist 
Donato Dozzy - Onde 
Saskia - Awai 
Audint - Reduvidae 
Ghost Dubs - Lobotomy Version 
Sa Pa - Womb 
Darkness Darkness - Beauty of the World 
Comfortnoise Ploy - Explicit 
Klaus - Sabz 
//no - Untitled A2 
Sagat - 8 Legs 
Pendant - OXI-GKK 
Marboc - Requiem for lost ships 
SND_RTN - The Orb 
Monolake - Fragile 
Monolake - Nucleus 
Carrier - Shading 
Tradecraft - Exit 
T++ - Audio 1995 #8_2 
Amon - She touched the stone 
Terrain - Blind Spot 
Stonecirclesampler - Robinson Ambient Grime [?] 
Al Wooton - When hempe is spun 
In Sync vs Mysteron - Redrain 
Counterattack - Untitled A3 
David Gnouy - Free Fall 
DBX - Blip 
Neil Landstrumm - Takks 
DJ Spookie - Twilite  
Da Sampla - (With a) Piece of Ice (Mix 2) 
DJ Deeon - The 604+