Do you know what happened to Dan Vacon (second from right) two Thursdays ago? He’d really like to know.

The Dudes are known for their dedication to the spirit of rock ’n’ roll, but frontman Dan Vacon got a little carried away in his quest to embody the title of the band’s latest release, Blood Guts Bruises Cuts. A few weeks ago, between drinking on the roof of a downtown building and hobbling home, the singer-guitarist got himself into a grim predicament.

“I smashed my head somehow, got a broken collarbone and I had to get nine staples in my head,” Vacon explains. “I went home and I remember talking to my roommate, and then I woke up and went to the hospital the next day, but I still have no memory of what happened to me. And I wasn’t with anyone, so nobody knows.”

Spontaneous injuries aside, The Dudes have been doing just fine for themselves. Their infectious brand of tongue-in-cheek rock ’n’ roll, topped by Vacon’s soulful singing, has led to runaway hits like “Dropkick Queen of the Weekend.” Their new album carries on that musical tradition while adding understated elements of funk and pop into the mix as well, not to mention some very emotional turns.

Vacon says the recording process itself played a great part in how the album turned out. Working with producer Jeff Dawson, the band utilized various analog devices for recording while processing the music digitally, making for a warm and dynamic sound. Vacon also notes that the band’s ever-increasing experience had a big impact on BGBC’s sound.

“We had so much living to do between the last album [and the new one],” Vacon reflects. “We’d done so much more touring, so we were that much more inspired to put what’s inside of us out there.”

Clearly, The Dudes’ musical formula is working on listeners, as the praise continues to roll in. They won Fast Forward Weekly’s Best of Calgary category for Favourite Band again this year — bringing their total number of bright-coloured plaques to four — and have been invited to take part in JunoFest for the past two years. They’ve also toured Europe and lent their music to movies and commercials, just to name a few high points in their near 15-year career. Even with all their accolades, it seems to some that the boys still haven’t reached the pinnacle of their potential. Vacon is humble about their achievements, but sees it as a balancing act of sorts.

“I feel successful already,” he admits. “More success could only complicate my life. At the same time, you need to be striving for something better than where you’re at and driven to improve. I don’t really think about it. I dread more success, but I try like hell to achieve it. It’s a little cycle I have going. It seems like we’re going up in tiny, incremental steps, and who knows where we’ll stop and when we’ll step backwards.”

The band couldn’t have moved on to its national and international successes without winning the hearts of their hometown. Wondering what makes The Dudes so synonymous with Calgary, and why that connection is so deep and long-lasting, Vacon says the answer is not that surprising.

“I think they can tell that we’re genuinely for Calgary,” he says. “We’re just real people and we’ve always been here. We’ve never skipped out to go to Toronto or make big waves on the coast. We’ve been unapologetically Calgarian when it wasn’t cool to be so. I’m super proud of my town. I’m super proud of the scene, and I think people can tell we genuinely have those feelings.”

With that attitude, it’s clear why The Dudes still hold the spot as the city’s eternal golden boys. After giving Calgarians some killer music for a decade and a half, though, Vacon has one request of his beloved city.

“If anyone saw me [on May 28] on 17th Ave. and Fourth St., let me know,” he says. “Because something happened to me — something dreadful — and all I remember is waking up in a pool of blood that morning.”