This project is part of ‘Indian Ocean Historical Sound Archive: collecting, safeguarding and sharing musical heritage’. It is co-financed by the Interreg VI Indian Ocean 2021-2027 programme, the French Embassy in the Seychelles, the Regional Council of Reunion, the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, and the Departmental Council of Reunion. It follows on from organological studies conducted in Mayotte in 2022 and Reunion in 2023. Building on this work, the PHOI team carried out a collection mission in the Seychelles during October and November 2025.

These accounts, gathered mainly from musicians and instrument makers, aim to celebrate Seychellois musical practices as well as raise awareness of them, ensuring their transmission and longevity for future generations. They offer the general public a chance to rediscover — or indeed discover — traditions, both past and present, as well as the instruments that enrich the region’s varied and diverse identity.

In these podcast episodes, the musicians also share insights into their professional journeys and the day-to-day realities of their work. They provide an overview of cultural life across the Seychelles, touching on ongoing dynamics as well as the difficulties and challenges they face. These testimonies thus shed valuable light on the current state of the music sector in the Seychelles.

In this episode, André Médine (born 1966) talks about his beginnings in music, which he taught himself as a young boy. He started out on the banjo, before taking up the violin as part of a group at the École Polytechnique, and then joining Latroup Nasyonal Sesel. He was also a member of ‘Paille en Queue’, a group that travelled from district to district to perform for dancers participating in kanmtole competitions. André Médine is now a versatile musician who is proficient on the accordion, guitar, keyboard, banjo, violin, tanbour moutya and even the harmonica. He mostly plays with a local group on Sundays, and calls on the government and the next generation to give Seychellois music the recognition and prominence it deserves.

Fanie Précourt