Getting to Know… Tradmrkd | Interview 🎤

For the 78^th interview on The Musical Hype, Eddie Flinn provides insight into the Scottish alternative rock band, Tradmrkd.

“If you come to our shows, we can give you a money back guarantee you will not be disappointed.” Now that, my friends, is confidence. That quote comes courtesy of Eddie Flinn, a member of the Scottish alternative rock band, Tradmrkd, who grace the 78^th interview in the Getting to Know series here on The Musical Hype.  Like the many Q&As conducted, Flinn provides us with insight on the background of the band, goals, influences, and what Tradmrkd is working on presently.  So, without further ado, here is Getting to Know… Tradmrkd: Interview #78.

Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Tradmrkd distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Eddie Flinn (of Tradmrkd): I haven’t yet, found a band who is playing right now that has the similar punk rock sound to us. Our sound is what makes us distinct. If you come to our shows, we can give you a money back guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Tradmrkd form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Flinn: Bands been around since 2014. It began as a muck about with mates just wanting to enjoy playing music. Badly. Very, very badly. We became serious with it in 2018. So, the band has been about for 6 or 7 years. The current lineup of, Finlay Cardno, James Riddoch, Corey Finnie and myself has been since late 2018. It was Finlay and I who began the band in 2014 with our mates. Back at the very beginning we had no huge dreams or goals of doing anything like we are today. We knew how bad we sounded. Once we found our lineup and jelled together, everything began to fall into place. 

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Flinn: Our goals have changed drastically. Instead of figuring out what song we are going to try cover next, we are now aiming to get an EP out by the end of the year. We have enough material for an album, but an EP looks more plausible. Trying to play as many shows as possible to build up a fan base is one of our biggest goals as well. Being able to play festivals would be amazing. We just want to play as much as possible and create as much as possible.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Flinn: Talking about myself, one of my biggest influences growing up was Green Day, and still is to this day. Green Day is my all-time biggest influence; especially when writing music. I also loved Kurt Cobain’s style of lyrics. So, I draw a lot from Kurt and Green Day. I just find Kurt’s lyric style with Green Day style melodies and rifts is a recipe for the ultimate punk sound. I feel as if it is one of the purest ways of song writing; leaving space for interpretations by the listener.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.  

Flinn: We have barely toured however, after we did a show we were chilling out with other bands and wanted to see if sticking a knife in the toaster did in fact produce the results the internet said it would. It did. We were not disappointed. I would like to state, no one was hurt in this stupid stunt.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?  

Flinn: When I’ve been asked this in the past, I said that my favorite song that I’ve written and played live was “Diddy.” We haven’t got a recording of the song yet, but it is literally a little ‘diddy’ of a song. The reason the song is special to me is, it is a song I wrote to remind me that there are some people in your life that come and go on your own accord and there are also some that life just takes away from you and it is a song reminding me to keep those that life can take away close to you, i.e. your family. No matter if you think you’ve learned all you needed from them, you are always going to need your family by your side.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?  

Flinn: I have zero secret talents or any party tricks. The only thing I can do is card tricks and even then, it is average at best. Corey our guitarist has a cool trick where he can pretty much play any riff of any song you say to him. He is like a human juke box.

Closing things out, what is Tradmrkd working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

Flinn: We have a few projects lined up with other local bands in Aberdeen. Nothing is set in stone or confirmed yet so we cannot unfortunately share anything. Our Facebook and Instagram will keep you up to date though. So, definitely go check it out.

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

Photo Credits: Tradmrkd, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype