Launceston band crafts eel-skin instruments from chance encounter
Musicians Emily Sheppard and Yyan Ng built instruments from eel skin after meeting a boat captain on the Tamar River.
Where Water Meets were asked to perform at Launceston's Junction Arts Festival without using their traditional instruments, guitar and violin. By chance, they met a boat captain on the Tamar River and discussed eels.
The band members decided to try making an eel-skin instrument, though no one had done it before. The process proved difficult: they had to skin the eel, scrape back its fat, dry the skin, and stretch it across the instrument as a resonator.
They got a free eel from a farm in Bagdad, Tasmania. Today, the band performs The Secret Life of Eels at the festival, telling the story of short-finned eels migrating from near Vanuatu to Tasmania.
- Bagdad, Tasmania
- Eel farm location
- 1990s
- Eel ladder built
- Emily Sheppard, Yyan Ng
- Band members
Why it mattersIt's a remarkable creative feat connecting musicians to the eels that have shaped Tasmania's infrastructure for decades.
AustraliaThe show is part of Launceston's Junction Arts Festival on September 20, 2026, celebrating Tasmania's long history of eel innovation.
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