Not from There

Early history

Not from There was founded in 1991 by Austrian-born guitarist, Heinz Riegler, who met two Australian musicians in London, drummer Simon Lambert and bass guitarist Anthony Hills and together they formed a band. The name, Not from There, relates to all three as immigrants who were deported to their home countries at one time or another. The trio recorded a series of EPs and mini-albums until gaining commercial success with their first major label album, Sand on Seven. Their early EPs were the six-track CD, Conned, released in 1991 on Trinity in UK, and an eight-track cassette, Wooden Polished Floors released in 1992, also on Trinity. At this time the two Australians, Hills and Lambert, were deported from UK, with Riegler following, to Brisbane, Queensland. A seven-track CD was released in September 1994, Valid to 06/95, on Malignant Records, an independent record label. In 1995, Riegler was deported from Australia to Austria and returned in 1996. Not from There, a self-titled five-track EP, followed in October 1997 on Infectious Records.

Sand on Seven

A three-track single, "What Is Better?", was released in May 1998 on Infectious Records and was followed by the second single, "Sich Offnen", which is mostly sung in Riegler's native German, in August ahead of their debut album, Sand on Seven which was released in November. Their Infectious Records releases were now distributed by Sony. The album met with critical success and moderate commercial success, winning the 'Best Alternative Release' ARIA Award for 1999. "Sich Offnen", was played on many indie based radio stations, garnering heavy rotation on national radio broadcaster, Triple J, and featured in their Hottest 100 for 1998. A follow up single, "Juanita's Cocktail Party", was released in January 1999, and despite having a promotional video, it failed to achieve the success of its predecessor.

Latvian Lovers

Not from There 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 the success of the previous album. It evolved on the electronic side of the first album throughout. Its first single, "Frisco Disco", was released in January 2001 but had limited commercial success although it appeared on the soundtrack of Australian television drama, The Secret Life Of Us. The band broke up some months later.

Post break up

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 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 guitar. Nightstick toured Australia throughout 2004–2005 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, Riegler was short-listed for the Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship, a Queensland Government Initiative created in honour of the late The Go-Betweens founder.

Albums

Singles

EPs