There have been years of touring, countless shows, one record released and another one due out soon, and Gin Blossoms front man Robin Wilson says it never fails, someone will come up to him and say, “I thought you broke up.”

This not just in: The Gin Blossoms are together. They have been for nearly a decade. The band that pumped out hits like “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You,” “Follow You Down” is not only together, but they have new music.

Now that the issue has been settled, the conversation with Wilson can turn to the new record, No Chocolate Cake due to be released on Sept. 28. The first single “Miss Disarray” is now on alternativeaddiction.com.  It’s the first new music since the Gin Blossoms released Major Lodge Victory in 2006.

“I’m excited to have an album of new material. I’m just glad we’re in the fight somehow. The material is really solid,” Wilson told Alternative Addiction. “Some of it is traditional Gin Blossoms, a logical sort of evolution in the tradition of things we’ve done before and some of it has new type of stylings, but in general we don’t over think those things. We just write songs and pick out the ones that sound the best or have someone else pick them out.”

Wilson said he felt like “Miss Disarray” is one of the best tunes on the record. He’s also proud of a song called “Wave Bye-bye.”

“I’m emotionally attached to one of my songs titled, “Wave bye-bye.”  I’m proud of that. I set out to write the saddest possible thing I could. I had been listing to a group called HIM, they’re a metal band from Finland. They’re a global source, they’re huge. Their T-shirts are for sale at Hot Topic. I really got into the group. I guess I was caught up in their world and decided to try and write something to write really sad and I thought it would cool to get the girls at Hot Topic to like one of our tunes.”

For Gin Blossoms fans the wait is finally over. New music from this band happens with all of the regularity of the World Cup or the Olympics. Four years between each record is a lengthy wait. But now that the wait is over, Wilson hopes the band can recapture part of their fan base that began in the Tempe, Arizona area and spread worldwide when the band struck Gold, or make that platinum with the release of New Miserable Experience in 1992. Their follow up titled, Congratulations I'm Sorry was released in 1996 and it also went platinum.

But in 1997, Gin Blossoms broke up at their peak and their momentum was derailed. They pursued other interests over a four-year period.

“We’ve never been able to get (momentum) back. We do well. We’re very fortunate that we still have a career and we’re in a position to get records and that someone is interested in us,” Wilson said. “We’re very, very fortunate, but there’s a huge difference between the public awareness of a group like Train and where we’re at. There’s a huge gulf and what the two bands get paid as well because it all comes down to how many people know you exist. I’m all about success. That’s always been my driving factor. I don’t really care about fame or money but I want to succeed.”

Part of the reason the Gin Blossoms are still a player in the music business is their relentless tour schedule. They have become a popular draw thanks to the performance of songs like “Super Girl,” a song off Major Lodge Victory that may not have charted, but leaves fans coming back to see their shows.  Wilson also starts the band’s encore with a stirring acoustical version of “Rocket Man,” the Elton John classic.

A live Gin Blossom’s show often includes Wilson interacting with the band’s fans. He often hands his tambourine to a fan in the front row and lets them play it for part of a song. He will also sing directly into fans' cell phones during some of their more established hits.

Wilson says the band has worked at least four of the new songs off the record into their live set. He’s not sure what the reaction will be on No Chocolate Cake but says the goal would be to at least get their investment back.

“We could break even if we sell about 50,000 records so technically that would be a success in terms of commercial success. There’s a ton of potential. I think the music is really commercial,” Wilson said. “It really comes down to what our band is willing to do and what our record company is willing to do, and then there’s the chaos mathematics of what opportunities are out there for us. Will we get a shot at Good Morning America and stuff like that? Even if we get offered those types of opportunities will we be in a position to do it? If we can take advantage of all those types of opportunities I feel like we’ve got solid enough material to break back into the mainstream in a way.”

The potential to sell so much more is certainly there. Wilson has watched bands like Counting Crows and Train be successful. He doesn’t see why they can’t have the same success.

“I hear Train on the radio right now and I hear them in Nissan commercials and I get really jealous and I think that it is in the realm of possibilities for us. But it’s hard when you’re in a band that doesn’t want to make videos you know? It’s aggravating to think what we could do is start competing with Train,” Wilson said. “I’d like to be in a position to do that. Most of the people in America don’t know that we’ve been back to together again for several years and it’s a never ending frustration to me to have people go ‘oh, are you still in the Gin Blossoms? Yeah, we just played last night.’ If there was a way for us to get that message out to the 5 million people who have bought our records in the past, I can see us getting a real shot at getting back in the fight.”

In a source of frustration, Wilson said some of the members of the band did not want to do a video.

“We were going to make a video, but half the band decided they didn’t want to be in the video. It’s kind of silly not doing that,” Wilson said. “It was presented to me that I could make a video by myself if I wanted to and that pissed me off frankly. It’s aggravating; we might make a video that just has me or one other guy. You would think it would be simple.”

Video or not, the Gin Blossoms will be on tour to promote their new music at selected dates around the country through March of 2011. Slowly, city by city, the word will get out. Perhaps with the release of Miss Disarray will finally help people to know the Gin Blossoms are back with new music.