I started a new music project in Australia: Yentl As Anything
It’s been quite the year. What started as a four‑month plan to make cheese and finish my farm‑work days on King Island turned into more than a full year — a year of grounded borders, closed cities, and unexpected possibilities.
When the world shut down in early 2020, travel suddenly stopped being an option. But while most of Australia dealt with shifting restrictions, King Island somehow remained an oasis of near‑normal life. We had no real lockdowns, no cases, and a small, close community trying to keep creativity alive.
At first, it felt strange to be “stuck.” For someone used to moving every once in a while, routine felt almost like surrender. Yet staying put transformed everything — especially my music. Between working at King Island Dairy, teaching drums, and helping at the local radio studio, I slowly began reconnecting with something I hadn’t done since before my travels: creating a band from scratch.
Somewhere in those evenings jamming at Wade Roskam’s Parenna Place Studio, Yentl As Anything was born.
Every Sunday at Wade’s
By mid‑winter 2020, everyone on the island knew we weren’t leaving anytime soon. The same small circle of musicians began meeting at Wade Roskam’s Parenna Place Studio each Sunday. There were no real rules — just instruments, coffee, beers, and dogs napping under old amps.
We were a handful of locals and one Belgian. I was the only backpacker in the room, surrounded by islanders who’d grown up playing together at community events, races, and pubs. But they welcomed me straight in. Within a few weeks, Sunday afternoons became our therapy sessions — the one place where the noise of the news didn’t matter.
It happened organically. Wade introduced me to Tommy, a bass player whose surf‑rock tone could fill the whole studio. We later brought in Jess Boyes, whose voice carried every emotion we couldn’t explain, and Leon “Jack” Barnes, a smooth‑voiced singer who could charm any audience. Michael Waythe, a teacher at the local school, rounded us out on rhythm guitar. I was playing guitar as we found Daniel Bear for the drum parts.
I was the outlier — the traveller in muddy work boots and paint‑stained overalls, the only one not from King Island. But music is the quickest passport stamp you can ever have. Within minutes, I was one of them. The name came about after one session full of wordplay and laughter — Yentl As Anything, a tongue‑in‑cheek nod to “Mental As Anything” and old‑school Aussie humour. The name started as a joke and ended up staying for good.
Rehearsing through restrictions
Tasmania’s COVID guidelines meant we often couldn’t all be in the same room. No one on the island had COVID, but we followed the rules anyway: small groups, social distancing, no big gatherings. When the four‑person limit hit, we rehearsed in shifts — sometimes just vocals and rhythm, sometimes everything unplugged outdoors on Wade’s veranda.
In August 2020, the King Island Club in Currie offered us a small stage for our debut. No one could dance under the health rules, so the crowd had to stay seated. But within two songs everyone was chair‑dancing, clapping, and swaying together. From our small stage we could see smiles that hadn’t been there for months. It was more than a show; it was a release.
A setlist and a summer
By October, restrictions finally eased. We put together our first real setlist — part Aussie pub rock, part “let’s‑see‑what‑happens.” The blend shouldn’t have worked, but somehow it did.
Our upcoming gigs snowballed into one long island summer:
- 07 Dec 2020 – Virtual Concert – streamed live from Wade’s studio
- 19 Dec 2020 – Harbour Bash – Currie Harbour
- 26 Dec 2020 - Boxing Day Show – King Island Club
- 26 Jan 2021 – Australia Day – Naracoopa
- 6 Feb 2021 – King Island Pub – Currie (Last Concert)
Are you enjoying following our Music sections? Please let us know in the comments below! If you’d like to learn more about Yentl’s life as a musician, explore the Projects page for current collaborations or visit Online Education for drum lessons and creative inspiration.
To stay up to date with upcoming music posts, performances, and behind‑the‑scenes stories, follow us on Facebook or check this website regularly. We can’t build this platform without our readers, so thank you for your continued support. Stay tuned for plenty more music and stories to come!
