Witness Underground Podcast

Artists Escaping Cults - Podcast - Documentary - Series

Follow the Witness Underground Podcast as we dive in to stories of artists escaping cults from around the globe.

Build that ecclectic playlist with art from people who successfully navigated cult mind control. Created by the team who brought the award winning feature documentary by the same name, the director and featured artists interview fascinating artists, musicians, actors, directors, authors etc. who also left a cult. Through making our documentary, artists all over the world emerged with amazing music, art, and stories. Listen in and let us know what you think.

Film short synopsis:
Witness Underground is a feature documentary that reveals the insular DIY music community that emerged within a high-control cult. Music, fame, and success are typically forbidden in this faith, who instruct its members to “beware of independent thinking.”

The artists at the heart of the music scene have their faith tested in deeply personal ways. They battle for positive mental health and push the boundaries of their religion’s norms, where leaving means being banned from interacting with your entire family and social circle for life.

Although severely restricted, they create the record label Nuclear Gopher and produce over 30 albums of earnest and personal music that spans singer/songwriter, riot grrrl, psychedelic rock, pop, EDM, shoegaze, and post-rock. Carefully curated songs and live performances punctuate their stories of friendship, deep loss, and personal growth.

Watch the film - Follow the podcast

WitnessUnderground.com
Watch:
Vimeo.com/ondemand/witnessunderground
Patreon.com/WitnessUnderground
Youtube.com/@WitnessUnderground

Contributors

Host

Scott M Homan

Director of Witness Underground

Concept - Cameras - Cut - Podcast Host

I have been actively working on documentaries since 2012.

I was raised on the fringes of the Jehovah's Witness culture. My father joined the religion when I was six. He attempted to indoctrinate us. I realized I didn't believe what the religion taught and left at 19, but got dragged back into it for family. On my own terms, I unofficially volunteered with preaching, before and during film school. After that, I moved to Ecuador to see first hand how the cult operated internationally. It was a life changing experience, where I found the final reasons I needed to finally exit, on top of a long list of extremely manipulative and coercive control tactics, such as shunning.

Artists I've met through this cult are giving a voice to silenced former Jehovah's Witnesses and other similar cult experiences.

http://bananaislandfilms.com