In 1991, Bridie and fellow members of Not Drowning, Waving, formed a side-project, My Friend The Chocolate Cake to play more acoustic-based material.
In June 1987, the band released their third studio album, Cold and the Crackle which was followed in December 1987 with an EP, I Did, recorded with Robby Douglas Turner on vocals.
[1][3] By 1989, Not Drowning, Waving left Rampant Records and signed with Mighty Boy to issue their fourth album, Claim in May.
[1][2] Later in 1989, the group visited Papua New Guinea playing several concerts and meeting George Telek (Moab Stringband, Painim Wok) with whom they later recorded two tracks for their next album, Tabaran which was released late in 1990.
Tabaran was credited to Not Drowning, Waving and the Musicians of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea Featuring Telek.
[1] Helen Mountfort had joined on cello in 1990, and the group covered The Reels track "Kitchen Man" for a various artists' album, Used and Recovered By (1990).
[5] Late in the year, Bridie and Montfort recorded the soundtrack for the film Hammers Over the Anvil, they used Jen Anderson on violin (ex-The Black Sorrows) and the horn section from Hunters & Collectors.
[1][2] In November 2001, a short reunion of Not Drowning, Waving – consisting of Bradley, Bridie, Mountfort, Phillips and Southall in the line-up – occurred at the Corner Hotel in Richmond for the book launch of Blunt: A Biased History of Australian Rock.