Swing Out: The Story of a Musical Island

A remote island’s global connection is increasing. What does this mean for its music?

Saint Helena is a small, remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean. In 2018, it opened its airport. In 2023, it connected to the Equiano subsea cable, bringing faster, unlimited internet to the island for the first time.

These changes are reshaping life on Saint Helena.

At the centre of it all is music—something that has long played a vital role in people’s lives. This site is a place for that story to be heard.

It’s still For The Love of Music

Consider this site a living, interactive documentary. It explores the common threads that have tied Saint Helenian music-making together across generations, and how those threads are changing in the modern day. Through the voices of the Saints who create, perform, and experience this music, the project explores what gives Saint Helenian music its unique character.

This is not intended to be a complete historical account of music on Saint Helena. Rather, it is an exploration of the culture, community, and hidden qualities that can be found inside of island’s musical life.

An important work precedes this project. Emma Jane Yon’s For the Love of Music (2007) documents much of Saint Helena’s musical story through detailed interviews with Saints, including some who also appear on this website. She does an excellent job describing the historical context of Saint Helenian music, so I don’t need to go into it here.

This project hopes to extend that story into the present day, exploring how increasing global connectivity is influencing musical life on the island. Through interviews with a range of Saints, a number of recurring themes emerged. Each section of the site explores one of these themes through interview clips, archival material, and commentary. Additional pages present historical recordings and footage of Saint Helenian musical performances, helping preserve and share these traditions with a wider audience.

A book titled 'For the Love of the Music' by Emma-Jane Yon resting on a backpack on a wooden floor. The cover features a photo of a group of young men, with some playing a guitar and others singing or looking on.
Shelf with various bottles and containers, a framed certificate, and electrical outlets.

Navigate the story here

Close-up of a home-made guitar amplifier with decorative textured covering and a control panel with knobs and switches, placed on a wooden floor in a music studio.
A group of diverse women singing together with sheet music in a room with warm lighting. Some women wear glasses and colorful clothing. There are microphones and a background of a textured wall.
A woman with short hair taking a selfie at a colorful outdoor celebration with a crowd in the background dressed in vibrant costumes and masks, hilly landscape in the distance. Saint Helena culture. Christian Castell

Watch and hear the music itself.

As well as providing the story, I am providing videos and audio for the world to access. In a way I hope this serves to preserve Saint Helenian music as well as bring knowledge and information under one roof.

A man wearing glasses and a straw hat with a colorful band is speaking into a microphone. The word 'Videos' is overlaid on the image.
A man with curly hair is sitting at a table with a mixing console, laptop, and headphones, appearing to be working on music production. The room has chairs and curtains with natural light coming from windows.