Good neighbor policy

Dylan Sires & Neighbors has not really concerned itself with talk of what band is going to be the next big thing out of Iowa. Instead, the Quad Cities-based four-piece is content doing what it does best: making pop-heavy, easily accessible music and letting the results speak for themselves.

And speak they have. This past summer, the band was part of a commercial campaign with State Farm Insurance, and its music has caught the eye of local producer Brandon Darner, as well as new Station One label head, Tobi Parks.

Dylan Sires & Neighbors plays IPR’s Studio One Live at the Basement Bar on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

Things began when Darner started working with the band on its upcoming album.

“We’ve been planning on a spring release,” Sires said. “It’s going to be 12 tracks, and it’s going to be the best album we’ve put out.”

“It’s a good mix between our ’60s throwback pop sound and a new modern, indie-type sound,” added bandmate Ross Klemz. “It’s definitely darker than our last album.”

Sires credits Darner and his team with doing to their band much of the same things Darner accomplished with Holy White Hounds.

“I’d say, first and foremost, they’re bringing more fidelity to our sound,” Sires said. “We’re sounding better than ever. And he’s (Darner) bringing more restraint to our sound, especially to me.”

In turn, when Parks was looking at launching Station One Records, Darner was one of the first people she met in town whose opinion she trusted. She asked him for some names to get started with, and he gave her Dylan Sires & Neighbors. She listened to the band’s work and liked what she heard.

Station One and Darner will take a lot of the back-end pressure of putting an album together off the band’s plate, leaving them to concentrate on creating a good product and getting it heard by fans. Sires says the band is looking to put together a supporting tour in late spring or early summer, which is something else that Station One will help facilitate.

And while choosing to join any label — be it local or nationally known — can be a big decision, Sires credits Parks with making the choice easy.

“I remember Tobi saying to us that she wanted us to be able to live off our music. That’s a pretty good sell to a musician,” he said. CV