1991–1997: Early history Not from There was founded in 1991 by
Austrian-born guitarist and vocalist,
Heinz Riegler, who had met two Australian
expat musicians in London, drummer Simon Lambert and bass guitarist Anthony Hills and together they formed a trio. Initially working as
the Rubber Dolls, they recorded material in London. The name, Not from There, relates to all three members as
immigrants who have been
deported to their home countries at one time or another. They have issued four
extended plays; two early ones were a six-track
CD,
Conned, released in 1991 on Trinity in the United Kingdom, and an eight-track
cassette,
Wooden Polished Floors released in 1992 on the same label. At this time both Australians, Hills and Lambert, were deported from UK, with Riegler following, to
Brisbane.
1998–1999: Sand on Seven A three-track single, "What Is Better?", was released by Not from There in May 1998 via Infectious/Mushroom, which Australian musicologist,
Ian McFarlane, felt showed, "jarring rock, with slabs of guitar and industrial strength samples" and "was certainly the dark and dangerous flipside to the radio-friendly sounds." Their Infectious Records releases were later distributed by
Sony. Alex Steininger of
In Music We Trust rated it as an A, he observed, "[their] sound is best described as out-of-this-world rock music that is original and noisy, which is what you should be looking for in your so-called 'rock' music today."
Sand on Seven won the
ARIA Award for Best Adult Alternative Album in
1999. A follow-up single, "Juanita's Cocktail Party", was released in January 1999, and despite having a music video, it failed to achieve the chart success of its predecessor.
2000–2001: Latvian Lovers Not from There provided a cover version of
Supernaut's "
I Like It Both Ways" for the soundtrack of Australian feature film,
Sample People (May 2000). McFarlane opined that it is, " a brooding cover" of the original's 1976 "glam rock apotheosis."
Mediasearchs Peter Peterson felt, "[it] has a melancholy, almost desperate feel. Built on mostly slow-middle tempo beats, it has definite European influences." Australian music journalist,
Ed Nimmervoll, declared it his Album of the Week in February 2001 and explained, "a diverse collection of music which evokes the pop groove of Regurgitator or Max Q, the irreverence of TISM, the rock/dance balance of a New Order, and the technology generated focus of an Aphex Twin." Its first single, "Frisco Disco", was released in January 2001 but had limited commercial success although it was used on the soundtrack of Australian TV drama,
The Secret Life of Us.
Oz Music Projects Nick Coppack described the track, "The fast paced electro insanity of current single 'Frisco Disco' is frighteningly reminiscent of The Bee Gees, especially with Riegler's playful high-pitched vocals." Not from There broke up in 2001.
2002–present: Post-split Heinz Riegler continued to work on a variety of projects, he collaborated with Lawrence English and Tam Patton in the experimental, ambient, noise outfit I/O3 which issued two recordings on English's Room 40 label. Simon Lambert joined Japanese group,
Zoobombs; he toured and recorded with the group from 2003 to 2004. In July 2008, Riegler was short-listed for the
Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship, a Queensland Government Initiative created in honour of the late
The Go-Betweens founder. ==Discography==