If Driving By Night were builders, you’d probably rue the day you hired them to fit your kitchen. Not that there’s anything dodgy or untrustworthy about Neil Hughes and co (if anything, their continued existence points to a sturdiness of character and gift for durability) but when you consider how they’ve been playing music together – in one form or another – since around the time of the first IRA Ceasefire, but that, thus far, we’re still waiting on a debut album, you might want to question their capacity for project management.

However, over the last few months, certain smoke signals emanating from their camp have suggested things have taken a productive turn for the better. News of an upcoming show in New York was followed swiftly by an announcement that they were also bound for this year’s SXSW. While, of even greater long-term significance, it also emerged that the five-piece were holed up in the studio crafting that long-time-a-comin’ first LP. A development that would leave long-term fans delighted, of course, but which also may provoke a few to wonder: what the hell has taken you so long?
Judging by the phlegmatic, hands-up response of the band’s lead singer, he’d be in no position to argue. In fact, he’d probably join in.
“I threw the head up,” Hughes now admits. “I threatened to leave. I knew how it looked. The time had come and it needed to be done. From a personal point of view, I needed a physical artefact to prove we’ve been doing something for the last load of years. And once we all agreed, the whole atmosphere in the band changed. Everything fell into place.”
Progress has since been swift. After spending so long working on their foundations, it appears that the band have relished the opportunity to finally start lifting off the ground.
“It’s been amazing,” says Neil. “Now we’re doing it, we want to do it properly. So, it’s not like we’ve just gone in and knocked it out, we’ve taken our time and tried to make it as varied and as interesting as we can. There are saxophones on it, trumpets, trombones. Ciaran Gribben’s coming in to provide some backing vocals and some of the girls who sang on Foy Vance’s record will be on there too. There’s almost too much there, in a weird way. It’s been quite a job getting it mixed.”
Interestingly, for a band with such a long history, they have also resisted the urge to cherry pick songs from their vast back catalogue. According to Neil, the material they’re working on is that which sits most comfortably with their late-twentysomething selves.
“Most of the songs are about relationships – whether that’s with your partner or your friends or with your family. We’re all at that stage in our lives when we can look at things with a bit more honesty. There’s one song called ‘Love and Affection’ – and it’s something I’ve always wanted to write. It’s a pretty personal song to me, deals with mental health, and it’s only now I think I can do it justice. I love the title – might try to persuade the rest of the boys that it might make a good album title.”
Lest we appear too hard, it should be pointed out that there are mitigating circumstances that help explain the halting nature of Driving By Night’s progress thus far. Support slots with the likes of Keane and Arctic Monkeys have alerted many to their premiership potential, however, their dealings with the business have proved frustrating. There have been so many near-misses, scuppered deals, and false starts, a sympathetic corner man would have long-ago thrown in the towel. But 15 years after playing together for the first time, the band have come to a new appreciation of why they keep going.
“We’ve never given up our day jobs,” says Neil. “I’ve lost count of how many times over the years that people told us it was going to happen. We’ve always heard the same thing – good voice, good tunes, great commercial potential – and I think it meant we focused on the wrong things. We should really just have enjoyed the fact we were hanging around together, discovering music with one another. But we understand that now. Being in a band isn’t about signing for a major label, it’s about us all sitting round, hearing a song on the radio and arguing about whether or not it’s shit. We’re mates. But we’re also more than mates.”

For more info, including upcoming tour dates, see www.myspace.com/drivingbynight