Not Drowning, Waving provide guitar. Their name is derived from Stevie Smith's poem "Not Waving but Drowning". Rowan McKinnon soon joined on bass guitar and they recorded "Moving Around" with a drum machine. Other atmospheric instrumentals were recorded at the LaTrobe University's music department's studio. "Moving Around" was released as their debut single in April 1984 on the Rampant Records label. While recording tracks for the debut album, "Another Pond", Bridie and Phillips joined McKinnon (also on guitar) in the ambient pop band, Easter, with Russel Bradley on drums and percussion, and Tim Cole on vocals. Cole became sound engineer and recording producer
Not Drowning, Waving covered The Reels track "Kitchen Man" for a various artists' album, "Used and Recovered By" (1990). In 1991, Bradley, Bridie and Mountfort formed a side project, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, as an acoustic music group after Bridie took a holiday in New Zealand and wrote a collection of songs that did not fit into the Not Drowning, Waving style. Not Drowning, Waving recorded the soundtrack for 1991 film "Proof" which was issued in April 1992. It won the 'Best Independent Release' and was nominated for 'Best Original Soundtrack / Cast / Show Album' at the ARIA Music Awards of