Not From There

Not from There were formed in London, although, as per the band's name, none of them were citizens of England at the time. Austrian guitarist Heinz Riegler had previously formed the Rubber Dolls with Australian bassist Anthony Hills back in 1986, but years later and with Hills' visa about to expire, little had come of it. After meeting another Australian, drummer Simon Lambert, who was backpacking through the country at the time, they formed Not from There in 1991. The visas of Hills and Lambert both expired shortly thereafter and they were deported back to Australia, forcing Riegler to relocate there to continue with the band. After recording some EPs, touring Europe, and briefly experimenting with a move to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, it was Riegler's turn to be deported back to his home of Austria in 1995. A year later he was back in Australia, and this time it was long-term and legal. Finally free of their immigration worries, they settled down to record their first full-length album, Sand on Seven, which was released in 1998. The album quickly made their name and was popular on Australian radio, even though the lead single, "Sich Offnen," was sung in German by Riegler. They were nominated for several ARIA awards and won Best Alternative Release for the album. They courted controversy with their acceptance speech and a later press conference, explaining that this sudden fame and television appearance wouldn't make much of a difference when all three of them had to collect their unemployment benefits the next day. Their second album, Latvian Lovers, was released in 2001. Though they had always experimented with a sampler in their songs and especially during their live performances, their second album was an unusual mixture of electro and industrial with a touch of disco thrown in. It was not received as well as Sand on Seven, and they broke up soon afterwards. Again heading overseas, Lambert joined Japan's Zoobombs, while Riegler briefly joined Nightstick and I/O3 as well as performing solo.