Northeast Regional continue the slow burn toward their upcoming album In The Desert with the premiere of “Trade Secrets,” a track that captures the band’s reflective but determined spirit. Written late in the album process, the song arrived quickly, locking into place with a sense of purpose that mirrors the band’s renewed commitment to making music together.
Musically, “Trade Secrets” is a moment of lift inside a record shaped by time, change and the realities of adulthood. Lyrically, the track pushes back against the fractured modern media landscape. It’s a reminder that artists rarely control what resonates most with audiences.
Instead, “Trade Secrets” celebrates persistence… a rallying cry to keep going, stay in the trenches and keep creating, even when the thing people remember most might not be the thing you’re proudest of.
The band explains:
“With the current media ecosystem being very fractured, it’s a blessing if and when a piece of art breaks through some cultural zeitgeist. Artists can’t control what pieces or songs connect the most with audiences, so this song is meant to say “keep going” even if you’re not as proud of the thing you’re most known for and generally being a celebration of still being in the trenches, so to speak.”
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/