David Bridie, Rowan McKinnon, John Phillips, Russell Bradley, Helen Mountfort & James Southall.
were a musical group formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1983 (though they first performed as a group in 1984) by
David Bridie and
John Phillips (3). Their music combined elements of rock, ambient music and world music; their lyrics dealt with characteristically Australian topic: word-pictures of landscapes and people, the seasons, and some political issues (such as Indonesia's invasion of East Timor). Their name is derived from Stevie Smith's poem "
Not Waving but Drowning".
Not Drowning, Waving broke up in 1994; some of the members (including Bridie and cellist
Helen Mountfort) went on to form
My Friend The Chocolate Cake.
In 2005, Not Drowning, Waving resurfaced with a performance at the 2005
WOMADelaide Festival.