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
Witness Underground Podcast
Former Bethel Elder Became a Blues Rocker
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/i8zV6W-lKiE
Subscribe if you like this content.
Former Elder in Jehovah's Witnesses, Gary Alt, was even a long-time "Bethelite," a worker at their world headquarters called Watchtower (a book publishing company masquerading as a religion). One of his contributions while there was cultural. He was asked to host a monthly music entertainment night at Bethel.
Check out his songs:
"Here are a handful of songs you might be interested in. The "still IN" songs variously have something to do with my exiting the JWs.
[still IN]
Falling Down vocal by Jayway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl__9Y2BJq8
Bleed For You vocal by Jayway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USzsewK8WZs
Spin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8poJf5pTzxE
Whatever (I knew this wasn't a good song when I did it, but I needed one more for my album Not For Sale To Minors and wanted it to be raw-sounding - deliberately done with the angst and minimalist values of John Lennon's early solo recordings)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOZPqdskaA
[OUT]
Never Ending Always vocal by Lori Klein (written for my novel, Force of Will which used the pseudonym Tan Swiftwater - there's an interesting story to the song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRK0HbqMiM
This Holy Day vocal by post-JW Gayann from NY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OMPcoB9vL0
Wake Up vocal by post-JW Emma-Jade Mechen, daughter of Shane, from New Zealand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LAjNwRe6Gw
Anything else you might be interested in may be found on Spotify by searching for "Gary Alt" and the following album names, all done when I was JW:
-Tribute
-(Not) For Sale To Minors
-Beef Wellington and the Mad Cows - Masticated Bovine (joint project with JW friend Jayway when I was in)
-Gift of Projection (EP that predicted Art of Survival but has only 2 songs in common with it)
-Art of Survival (my best IMO)
And a couple of relatively recent extra songs that are not on any album:
-Shine a Light
-The Moon is Broken Tonight
-Western Lady - vocal by Rick Barth (YouTube only, not actually released)
-Color Wind (demo only)
Back in the Free World - vocal by Larry Hayden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g0Ch6YYMeg "
-
Subscribe to the newsletter for weekly episodes:
https://bit.ly/WitnessUnderground
Watch now:
http://WitnessUnderground.com
https://tubitv.com/movies/100018684/witness-underground
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/witnessunderground
Support:
https://Patreon.com/WitnessUnderground
https://YouTube.com/@WitnessUnderground
Reach out directly:
XJWdoc@gmail.com
-Scott