I've known this Elder for years. When I was in the borg he told me how he was in the music business before he became a JW.
He made a point of telling me how ruthless it was and how he had been ripped off for thousands of pounds.
He did many talks from the platform over how as a young man he was involved in a typical 'drugs, rock and roll' lifestyle and how becoming a JW changed his life.
There was a young guy in the congregation who was particulary interested in music. This Elder counselled him that it was OK to do it i.e. at congregation parties, but not to venture into the music business as a profession as it could lead to an immoral lifestyle. After all, he was speaking from experience.
Anyway, a few years ago, this Elder appeared on television, with a couple of other JW's to promote their single - all about animal cruelty. A couple of people in the congregation saw him and said "I saw you on television the other day". He just replied "did you? really? oh thats interesting, isn't it?" and walked away without answering anything else.
He later told me that he was doing this 'single' for charity - an animal sanctuary that was struggling for money.
It became clear over time that he was still involved in the music business. The band was him, a ministerial servant, an inactive JW, and a wordly guy. He was still releasing albums but always asked me not to tell anyone as it could 'stumble' people in the congregation.
He even released an album once that had a picture of the pope/adolf hitler on the front of it and refers to the genre of music as psychodelic - a quick look in the dictionary describes that word as 'relating to or denoting drugs (esp. LSD) that produces hallucinations and apparent expansion of consciousness'.
Yet, he still tells the congregation that the music business was something he was glad to get away from due to the nature of it.
He is still a well-respected Elder.
What do you guys think?