Hugo Montgomery-Swan

Hugo Montgomery-Swan (HMS) (born 19 April 1962) is an English entrepreneur and publisher who has made his reputation as a musician, songwriter, author, journalist, offshore powerboater and concert promoter. He first entered the world of publishing in 1994 with a powerboating magazine called RIB Magazine, which in 2012 was re-titled Powerboat and Rib Magazine. Founded in March 2009 a new publishing company Oyster House Media was set up. This company published Bass Guitar Magazine alongside Drummer, Acoustic, and Guitar Buyer magazines. In May 2012 Oyster House Media engaged in an involuntary liquidation. The result of which was Blaze Publishing buying the rights to the Oyster House Media music magazine titles and associated live events.

Background

HMS was born at Freedom Field Hospital, Plymouth. He was educated at Lerryn Primary School in Cornwall, then went to Mount House Preparatory boarding school at the age of six, before spending a brief time at Fowey School and completing his schooling at Wadham School in Somerset.

On leaving school, Montgomery-Swan ran a professional showjumping, horse-breaking and schooling yard. He competed at Young Rider Championship level and was invited by the BSJA (British Showjumping Association) to train under Dick Stillwell as a prospective Olympic team member. He was also trained by Tony Newbery and Marion Mould.

HMS and his family practice the Jehovah Witness faith. Hugo has served as an elder in the organisation, and openly and actively promotes he and his families faith in Jehovah.

Powerboating

HMS’s association with powerboats had already begun while living in London, and his love of the sea was largely attributable to his younger years living in Cornwall near the coastal town of Fowey. After meeting the celebrated war veteran, former Colditz POW and global adventurer Michael Alexander, Montgomery-Swan, along with Jan Falkowski, Paul Lemmer, Tony Lee-Elliott and others, helped form the British Inflatable Boat Owners Association.

Under the banner of his boating title, RIB Magazine, HMS has organised and partaken in many offshore powerboat/RIB events and challenges, including the Atlantic Challenge, the Eddystone Challenge and RB4 – the Round Britain Challenge for RIBs under 4 metres in length. He has staged two Round Scotland Challenge events, represented the UK racing RIBs in the Rondas Acores RIB Raid and the 2011 Gore-Tex Arctic Challenge. Montgomery-Swan has covered thousands of miles in the North Atlantic, the Baltic, the North and Irish Seas, the Mediterranean, the Mid Atlantic, the English Channel and the Norwegian Sea.

In 2009, HMS was invited by Adlard Coles Nautical to write a book about survival at sea in powered craft, Heavy Weather Powerboating.

Music

HMS discovered his interest in music in his teens and formed several ‘local’ bands, performing live for the BBC and local radio in the early 1980s. On ending his full-time association with horses in 1984/1985, he moved to London to pursue music full-time and teamed up with future Skin guitarist, Myke Gray, to form the rock band Phantasm, and later the band project Call of the Wild. The latter was managed by Tony Gordon, however, after failing to agree on the musical direction required by the management company, he quit the band and the project dissolved.

HMS's band Swans In Flight, formed in early 2009 and was launched with the release of a self-titled 16-track acoustic-rock album. The album featured a line-up of some 14 guest artists and collaborations that included Martin Barre of Jethro Tull; TM Stevens of The Pretenders, Joe Cocker and James Brown; Marco Mendoza of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy; James LoMenzo of Megadeth and Black Label Society; Kip Winger of the Alice Cooper Band; Steve Stevens of the Billy Idol band ; Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention and Phil Johnston of the Robert Plant band. Since its launch, the band played a number of high-profile concerts and festivals, including headline and special-guest performances at the Birmingham NEC, London Earl’s Court, London Olympia, Sheffield 02, Milton Keynes Stables, Beautiful Days Festival, Cambridge Rock Festival, Rhythm Festival and the Acoustic Festival of Britain. The band has also shared the stage as special guests to Steve Vai, Doctor Feelgood, Thin Lizzy, Seth Lakeman and other international artists.

HMS now is performing only as the solo act; Monty Swan.