During his solo career he has issued five studio albums and worked on soundtracks for Australian films and television like The Man Who Sued God, Remote Area Nurse, Secret City, and The Circuit.
[6] Bridie had dropped out of his Arts/Law degree course for the venture, but found that Perth bands performed cover versions due to "the city's penchant for Top 40 and retro hits.
[4] Bridie on vocals, piano, synthesiser and percussion formed a World music duo, Not Drowning, Waving in Melbourne in 1983 with fellow classical musician John Phillips on guitar.
[3][4][7] The pair had met at La Trobe University when Bridie invited Phillips to help record a track, "Moving Around", which had McKinnon providing bass guitar.
[4] Initially Not Drowning, Waving was a studio-only project while Bridie, McKinnon, Phillips and Southall formed a performance group, Easter, with Russel Bradley on drums and Tim Cole on lead vocals.
[3][4] To research music for the documentary, Bridie had travelled to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1986 and first heard George Telek's "amazing song coming out of a recording studio.
"[13] Fellow Australian music historian, Ian McFarlane, noticed the influences of Brian Eno and David Byrne on the pair, but "[they] were not averse to incorporating African and other Third World rhythms into their muse.
After My Friend the Chocolate Cake's debut album Bridie's further work as a record producer in the mid-1990s includes Archie Roach's Jamu Dreaming (1993), Paul Kelly's Wanted Man (1994) and Christine Anu's Stylin' Up (1995).
Upon reflection Bridie explained to Paris Pompor of FilmInk in 2017 why it was one of his favourite projects, "[it] allowed me to soak in the Trobriand Islands' culture and stay in a beach shack for eight weeks recording anything that moved and learning about a fascinating part of the world.
[24] Evan Cater of AllMusic rated it at three-out-of-five stars and explained, "[he] finds new layers in his well-established gift for moody atmospherics" although "his breathy tenor can be slightly grating", while "his real strength lies in a compositional adventurousness.
[28] He still makes extended trips to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea where his friendship with musician Sir George Telek began and where his band recorded an album.
Over the years, David Bridie has balanced his career as a live musician with the composition of soundtrack music, with credits for over 100 feature films including Proof, Bran Nue Dae, The Man Who Sued God and Gone, several of which received International release.
David Bridie has also contributed to many television shows, short films and documentaries soundtracks most notably for Remote Area Nurse for which he won an AFI Award as well as The Straits, Dealine Gallipoli and Secret City.