According to Dan Harden, making a hit song is a bit like winning the lottery.
The frontman for Malibu Knights is feeling lucky these days.
“You could think it is the best song in the world and no one wants to hear it, or you could actually think the song sucks and someone else thinks it is great and all of a sudden it is a huge hit and sells,” said Harden. “We put all this time and effort into our music and I think if we keep working, it will pay off.”
On the cusp of releasing a new full length record, Sweet Rock and Roll, Harden says it is the best thing they have ever done. The album, he said, is everything they wanted it to be, with a 70s rock vibe.
“It is the sound we were after. The way I have written music is the way I grew up listening to music. My dad was always telling me to listen to his albums, so The Who and that kind of stuff. A lot of producers want to take our sound and make it more modern and I would rather not do that,” said Harden. “People on the business side of music, for the first time, have started calling about our music and wanting to know how they can get involved.”
Keeping their artistic integrity has meant holding off on putting out tunes. The band, which includes Dean Irving and Okanagan Falls native Rod Anderson, has backed themselves financially and made sure they made enough over the summer months to cut no corners on Sweet Rock and Roll and keep it independent.
“The hard part is over. Now we get to get on the road and show everyone what we have done,” said Harden. “Sweet Rock and Roll is a very fitting name for what we are doing with this album.”
The band plans on releasing a single from Sweet Rock and Roll in the upcoming months and the album shortly after. Malibu Knights teamed up with music producer Jeff Dawson, who developed and produced Daniel Powter, State of Shock’s hit single Money Honey and others. They also enlisted the services of Mike Fraser, mix engineer, who has worked on songs by AC/DC, Metallica, Marianas Trench and a long list of well known bands.
Harden said they will be playing lots of tracks off the new album on Saturday in Penticton at the Barking Parrot.
The Penticton venue is important to the trio, who have added an organ player to their outfit, though he is not going to be there this Saturday. The Parrot is where Malibu Knights rocked their way to first at the Rock The Peach Battle of the Bands competition in 2012. Their prize was a prime spot on the schedule of the Rock The Peach music festival with one of Harden’s favourite bands headlining that evening in Collective Soul.
“We had a really good spot on that Friday afternoon and I think playing there gave us a little more credibility. You can’t ever go wrong winning a contest,” said Harden.
Malibu Knights are playing at the Barking Parrot, located inside the Penticton Lakeside Resort, on Saturday as part of the fourth annual Movember Underwear Affair-Stache Bash which is a fundraiser for the Penticton Regional Hospital. Doors open at 7 p.m. Entry is by donation and there will be a silent auction. Malibu Knights will take the stage at 9:30 p.m.