About Not From There

Not From There were an indie rock band from Brisbane, Australia who had mild popularity in the late 90's. They are most well known for their 1998 single, Sich Offnen. Not From There's sound is characterized by grinding basslines, fuzzed-out guitar riffs and the occasional usage of dubs or samples. Not From There was founded in 1991 by Heinz Riegler who whilst in London had met up with two Australian backpackers, Simon Lambert and Anthony Hills and conspired to form a band with them. The name Not From There has an interesting story as all three were immigrants who were deported to their home countries at one time or another. The trio then produced a number of EPs and mini-albums until gaining some commercial success with their first major label release, Sand On Seven. The first album produced by Not From There, Sand On Seven, was released in 1998 and met with critical success and moderate commercial success, even going as far as winning Best Alternative Release at the 1999 ARIA Music Awards. The first single from the album was Sich Offnen, which is mostly sung in Heinz's native German tongue and was a considerable success on many indie based radio stations, garnering heavy rotation on Triple J, leading it to be 100 in the 1998 Hottest 100. A follow up single was released soon afterwards, Juanita's Cocktail Party and despite having a promotional video made for it, it failed to achieve the success that its predecessor did. Not From There soon released their second album, Latvian Lovers, in 2000. The album had a more disco or funk-oriented feel to it than Sand On Seven and managed to sound more accessible but failed to gain any of the success that the previous album did. It evolved on the electronic side of the first album throughout. The first single released, Frisco Disco, got very limited commercial success but managed to get onto the soundtrack of Australian television drama, The Secret Life Of Us. The band broke up some months later in 2001. Heinz Riegler continues to be working on a variety of projects, notably he collaborated with Lawrence English and Tam Patton in the experimental/ambient/noise outfit I/O3 which in turn issued two recordings on English's Room 40 label. Riegler contributed vocals to Toshack Highway, Adam Franklin's post Swervedriver debut solo album. Riegler also briefly fronted the three piece punk rock band Nightstick which included Martin Lee on drums and Tam Patton on bass. Nightstick toured Australia throughout 2004/05 and released a self-titled EP. Riegler is currently working on a solo material. Simon Lambert joined Japanese group Zoobombs and toured as well as recorded with the group in 2003/2004. In July 2008 Heinz Riegler was short-listed for the Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship, a Queensland Government Initiative created in honour of the late The Go-Betweens founder.