Wil Seabrook | |
|---|---|
 Seabrook interviewed in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | October 25, 1976 |
| Origin | Morganton, North Carolina |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Website | wilseabrook |
Wil Seabrook (born October 25, 1976) is a musician, singer, and songwriter from Morganton, North Carolina. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Wil Seabrook released his self-titled debut album in August, 2000. [1] Its first single "You Do What You Have To" was named Record of the Week by BBC Radio 2. After his band, The Wil Seabrook Band, toured with Dave Matthews Band, Sister Hazel and Dishwalla, he ventured out again as a solo artist and released New EP in 2005. [2]
Also in 2005, Wil appeared in the first season of Rock Star INXS. [3] He performed two songs in the regular competition, Heroes and Right Here, Right Now. After his performance of Right Here Right Now was ranked in the bottom three, Seabrook became the second contestant to be eliminated from the show (July 13, 2005). For his elimination performance, Seabrook sang Need You Tonight.
Wil then signed with Mercy Records and began to record his second studio album One Dozen Summers in November 2006. Shortly thereafter, in January 2007, he toured to promote the album in anticipation of its release on August 14, 2007.
In early 2009, Wil was commissioned to write a song for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation titled "Tomorrow Will Come." [4] Lior Goldenberg produced and mixed the track. All proceeds from the sale of the track go directly to the Foundation. That same year, Wil signed on with ATN Management and performed the song "Inside" in the movie The six wives of Henrey Lefay.
Wil Seabrook practices and endorses Scientology. [5] In 2011 he founded Rock For Human Rights, a group supported by the Church of Scientology and affiliated with Youth for Human Rights International and Citizens Commission on Human Rights. [6] [7] [8] The group has toured America, Europe and Asia with a general human rights-focused message ("Freedom of Expression," "The Right to Public Assembly," "The Right to Democracy," etc.) aimed at school-age children; their 2017 single, "Candle," features singer Alexio Kawara of Zimbabwe. [9] [10] [11] In addition to his human rights advocacy, Wil has written blogs promoting religious freedom for STAND League. [12] [13]
Xenu, also called Xemu, is a figure in the Church of Scientology's secret "Advanced Technology", a sacred and esoteric teaching. According to the "Technology", Xenu was the extraterrestrial ruler of a "Galactic Confederacy" who brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology scriptures hold that the thetans of these aliens adhere to humans, causing spiritual harm.
Disconnection is the severance of all ties between a Scientologist and a friend, colleague, or family member deemed to be antagonistic towards Scientology. The practice of disconnection is a form of shunning. Among Scientologists, disconnection is viewed as an important method of removing obstacles to one's spiritual growth. In some circumstances, disconnection has ended marriages and separated children from their parents.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
Followers of the Scientology movement maintain a wide variety of beliefs and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives, some of which, preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of past-life events.
Since its inception in 1954, the Church of Scientology has been involved in a number of controversies, including its stance on psychiatry, Scientology's legitimacy as a religion, the Church's aggressive attitude in dealing with its perceived enemies and critics, allegations of mistreatment of members, and predatory financial practices; for example, the high cost of religious training:191 and perceived exploitative practices. When mainstream media outlets have reported alleged abuses, representatives of the church have tended to deny such allegations.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala is an American musician. He is the lead singer and lyricist of the progressive rock band the Mars Volta since its inception in 2001. He was the lead singer and only constant member of the post-hardcore group At the Drive-In, the lead singer of the band Antemasque, and singer and guitarist in the band Zavalaz.
Rock Star: INXS is the first season of the reality television show Rock Star where fifteen contestants competed to become the lead vocalist for the Australian rock band INXS.
Scientology has been referenced in popular culture in many different forms of media including fiction, film, music, television and theatre. In the 1960s, author William S. Burroughs wrote about Scientology in both fictional short stories and non-fictional essays. The topic was dealt with more directly in his book, Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology. The 2000 film Battlefield Earth was an adaptation of a novel by L. Ron Hubbard.
Jordis Losana Sikahema Unga is an American rock singer from Forest Lake, Minnesota. After years of building a cult following in Minneapolis, as a vocalist for The Fighting Tongs and Liars Club, Unga reached international fame for her performances on the first season of the CBS television reality show Rock Star: INXS where 15 contestants competed to become the lead vocalist for the Australian rock band INXS. She finished fifth overall. Unga was also a contestant on the second season of NBC's The Voice as a part of "Team Blake". She was eliminated on April 16, 2012, finishing in the Top 16 of the competition. In 2014, Unga released her debut album, A Letter from Home.
Martin Xavier "Marty" Casey is an American rock musician who is the lead singer, primary songwriter and second guitarist of Lovehammers. After years of building a strong local following in Chicago and the Midwest, Casey achieved international fame on the first season of the reality show Rock Star: INXS. Casey made it to the final two of the competition, finishing as the runner-up to winner J.D. Fortune. Although he was not chosen as the new singer for INXS, he was invited to tour as opening act. In 2006, Marty Casey and the Lovehammers opened on the first leg of the INXS Switched On Tour. Marty was a fan favorite on Rock Star: INXS, receiving the most viewer votes, and topping the download charts with his performances of both covers and original material.
Timothy Bowles is an American attorney who served as general legal counsel for the Church of Scientology International for eight years. In addition to his legal practice, he also serves as the executive director of Youth for Human Rights International, is a Commissioner on the Board of Advisors of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and has helped establish other social organizations sponsored by the Church of Scientology, including Narconon and Applied Scholastics.
Mark Bunker, is an American politician, broadcast journalist, videographer and documentary filmmaker. He won a Regional Emmy Award in 2006 from the Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2020, Bunker was elected city councilman for Clearwater Florida's 2nd district, and was selected as vice-mayor on April 4, 2023.
David Bernard Gaiman was a British businessman and head of the UK branch of Church of Scientology. He and his wife Sheila joined Scientology in the early 1960s and Gaiman served as public relations director and was commonly in the media during the British controversies over Scientology in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Church of Scientology Moscow v Russia [2007] ECHR 258 is a European Court of Human Rights case, concerning Article 11 of the convention. In the case the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg condemned Moscow City Government's refusal to consider the Church of Scientology of Moscow for registration as a religious organisation, and as a result found that Russia had violated the rights of the Church of Scientology under Articles 11 when "read in the light of Article 9". Specifically, the Court determined that, in denying consideration of registration to the Church of Scientology of Moscow, the Moscow authorities "did not act in good faith and neglected their duty of neutrality and impartiality vis-à-vis the applicant's religious community". The Court also awarded the Church €10,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and €15,000 for costs and expenses.
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a cult, a business, a religion, or a scam. Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called Dianetics, which he represented as a form of therapy. An organization that he established in 1950 to promote it went bankrupt, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book Dianetics in 1952. He then recharacterized his ideas as a religion, likely for tax purposes, and renamed them Scientology. By 1954, he had regained the rights to Dianetics and founded the Church of Scientology, which remains the largest organization promoting Scientology. There are practitioners independent of the Church, in what is referred to as the Free Zone. Estimates put the number of Scientologists at under 40,000 worldwide.
Juliet Nicole Simms, also known as Lilith Czar, is an American singer and songwriter.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) is an anti-psychiatry lobbying organization established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, its stated mission is to "eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections." It is regarded by most non-Scientologists as a Scientology front group whose purpose is to push the organization's anti-psychiatry agenda.
The Church of Scientology has operated in Germany since 1970. German authorities estimate that there are 3,500 active Scientologists in Germany as of 2019. The Church of Scientology gives a membership figure of around 12,000. The Church of Scientology has encountered particular antagonism from the German press and government and occupies a precarious legal, social and cultural position in Germany.
The intersection of Scientology and abortion has a controversial history which began with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's discussion of abortion in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Hubbard wrote in Dianetics that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. Scientologists came to believe that attempted abortions could cause traumatic experiences felt by the fetus, which would later be remembered as memories referred to in Scientology as "engrams". In the Scientology technique called Auditing, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. One of the questions asked in these security checks is, "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?".
Scientology's physical presence in Los Angeles and Hollywood is massive. It owns at least seven large buildings, staffed by 2,500 members, and is associated with a wide array of local organizations - "front groups" to their detractors. Some are directly affiliated, like the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights, an anti-psychiatry group, and Author Services, which represents Mr. Hubbard's books and hires actors like Roddy McDowall and Bruce Boxleitner to read the Scientology founder's books on tape. Others have Scientologists on staff and use church methods.