Under the Volcano

Under the Volcano is a 2021 music documentary film by Australian filmmaker Gracie Otto. Centered on a 1980s recording studio on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the film features renowned 1970s-80s musicians such as Sting, Nick Rhodes, Jimmy Buffett, Verdine White, Tony Iommi and Stewart Copeland. The film premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival at Austin, Texas, on 19 March 2021, also being screened at several other festivals in 2021. Synopsis The film chronicles a decade of music by AIR Montserrat, which was an important recording studio of 1980s pop music on the West Indian island of Montserrat, built by Beatles producer George Martin in 1979. As a custom-built state-of-the-art recording studio, it became known for such recordings as the albums Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits), Ghost in the Machine and Syncronicity (The Police), Steel Wheels (The Rolling Stones), and the single "I'm Still Standing" (Elton John). The studio was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo on 17 September 1989, and some of the filming took place among the ruins.