Moby
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Moby discusses his new album "Last Night" which aims to capture the experience of a night out in New York City over the course of 65 minutes. He describes envisioning his ex-girlfriend going out and the album progressing from getting ready at home to ending up on a rooftop at sunrise. Although hugely successful, Moby comes across as down-to-earth when discussing his love of TV shows like The Simpsons. He has evolved from his punk rock roots in high school to making electronic music while advocating for causes like animal rights and helping people through music therapy.
![MARCH 200863
music
＾
This particular album is sort of a concept record,￣ Moby says of his
March release, Last Night (Mute Records). ＾It¨s me trying to make a
record that somehow reflects what I would hear if I went out on the
Lower East Side on a Thursday night.￣ In fact, Last Night is an eight-
hour long crazy night on the town condensed into a 65-minute album.＾I was
sort of envisioning my ex-girlfriend going out,￣ he explains. ＾It starts with
her listening to music while getting ready. As the night progresses, it gets a
little weirder and atmospheric. Then it ends in this almost reflective beatific
place.￣ Upon noticing the stupefied look on my face, the humble beatsmith
kindly elaborates: ＾You¨re in a nightclub, and it¨s 4:30 in the morning. The
lights come on. You leave, and go to someone¨s apartment. All of a sudden,
after six or seven hours of griminess, you¨re sitting on someone¨s roof
surrounded by plants and trees while the sun comes up.￣
Although Moby is a bona fide international superstar with a list of
hits that date back to 1991, starting with the UK hit ＾Go,￣ he comes off as
more of a boy next door than a celebrity, especially when he discusses two
of his favorite shows, The Simpsons and Family Guy. ＾I¨ll always love The
Simpsons,￣ he confesses with a smile. ＾I used to be really obsessive about
that show, but Family Guy is so unbelievably funny and edgy that I almost
feel like The Simpsons is playing catch up.￣ After 19 seasons, The Simpsons
has ruled the pop culture scene even longer than Moby himself. When the
series originally aired its fifth season in 1993, he was busy touring with
The Prodigy, Orbital and Aphex Twin. By the show¨s eighth season in
1996, Moby was on tour in Europe, alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
promoting the message-driven electro-rock album Animal Rights. The
pinnacle of his mainstream success came in 1999 with the release of Play,
an album that sold nine million copies worldwide and was nominated
for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.
However, to this day, Moby has yet to receive a much-deserved Grammy.
Of course, winning a Grammy was the farthest thing from Moby¨s
mind when he was rocking out to bands like Joy Division and The Clash
as a kid. ＾The one area of music I¨m perfectly comfortable being nostalgic
about is early punk rock,￣ he exclaims. His mother was a classical pianist, so
he grew up playing classical music, but that all changed the instant he got a
guitar. ＾When I was a punk rocker in high school, I hated electronic music,
and I only ate at McDonald¨s and Burger King,￣ he admits.＾There¨s a certain
irony that five years later I was making electronic music and I was a vegan.￣
Moby¨s evolution continues with the launch of MobyGratis.com, a
website that allows students, not-for-profit filmmakers and visual artists
to incorporate his music into their films free of charge. His goal is to enable
filmmakers to spend their time making movies rather than contacting
record companies to license music. He¨s also helping to raise funds for the
Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF), where researchers
investigate the actual effects of music on different types of physical and
neurological trauma. ＾I looked at what they were doing, and I was just
stunned,￣ he explains. ＾What¨s amazing is you can have someone who¨s
had a terrible stroke and lost the ability to speak, but they can still sing.
Once you get them to start singing again, they [can] rebuild, in their brain,
the ability to speak again.￣
While Moby appears to be one of the busier philanthropists of 2008,
it¨s easy to forget that all of his contributions to society stem from an
appreciation for music and the club scene. ＾When I started deejaying in the
early ¨80s, I was going to clubs in New York all the time,￣ he says with a
smile. ＾I really fell in love with black and Latino music of the ¨80s. So when
I started making my own electronic music, it was very inspired by dance
music.￣ And on Last Night, not only does Moby capture the essence of that
New York party scene, but, by fusing it together with his brand of emotional
orchestrations, he modernizes it. SAM FRANK
＾When I was a punk
rocker in high school,
I hated electronic
music, and I only ate
at McDonald¨s and
Burger King,￣ he admits.
＾There¨s a certain irony
that five years later I was
making electronic music
and I was a vegan.￣](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ebb49464-dcc1-4f6d-8f1d-459b0fcbd487-160727040256/85/Moby-4-320.jpg)
Moby
- 1. 60MARCH 2008 music RA-RE T-shirt. Moby¨s own jeans and glasses.
- 2. MARCH 200861 music Night ShiftMoby paints the town red on his New album, Last Night. Photographed by ERIK SWAIN
- 3. 62MARCH 2008 music Stylist: EMMA PRITCHARD. Photographer¨s assistant: DAMIAN SIMMONS. Stylist¨s assistant: ELIZABETH YOON. Location: MORIMOTO, NYC. YS BY YOHJI YAMAMOTO shirt. Moby¨s own glasses.
- 4. MARCH 200863 music ＾ This particular album is sort of a concept record,￣ Moby says of his March release, Last Night (Mute Records). ＾It¨s me trying to make a record that somehow reflects what I would hear if I went out on the Lower East Side on a Thursday night.￣ In fact, Last Night is an eight- hour long crazy night on the town condensed into a 65-minute album.＾I was sort of envisioning my ex-girlfriend going out,￣ he explains. ＾It starts with her listening to music while getting ready. As the night progresses, it gets a little weirder and atmospheric. Then it ends in this almost reflective beatific place.￣ Upon noticing the stupefied look on my face, the humble beatsmith kindly elaborates: ＾You¨re in a nightclub, and it¨s 4:30 in the morning. The lights come on. You leave, and go to someone¨s apartment. All of a sudden, after six or seven hours of griminess, you¨re sitting on someone¨s roof surrounded by plants and trees while the sun comes up.￣ Although Moby is a bona fide international superstar with a list of hits that date back to 1991, starting with the UK hit ＾Go,￣ he comes off as more of a boy next door than a celebrity, especially when he discusses two of his favorite shows, The Simpsons and Family Guy. ＾I¨ll always love The Simpsons,￣ he confesses with a smile. ＾I used to be really obsessive about that show, but Family Guy is so unbelievably funny and edgy that I almost feel like The Simpsons is playing catch up.￣ After 19 seasons, The Simpsons has ruled the pop culture scene even longer than Moby himself. When the series originally aired its fifth season in 1993, he was busy touring with The Prodigy, Orbital and Aphex Twin. By the show¨s eighth season in 1996, Moby was on tour in Europe, alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, promoting the message-driven electro-rock album Animal Rights. The pinnacle of his mainstream success came in 1999 with the release of Play, an album that sold nine million copies worldwide and was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. However, to this day, Moby has yet to receive a much-deserved Grammy. Of course, winning a Grammy was the farthest thing from Moby¨s mind when he was rocking out to bands like Joy Division and The Clash as a kid. ＾The one area of music I¨m perfectly comfortable being nostalgic about is early punk rock,￣ he exclaims. His mother was a classical pianist, so he grew up playing classical music, but that all changed the instant he got a guitar. ＾When I was a punk rocker in high school, I hated electronic music, and I only ate at McDonald¨s and Burger King,￣ he admits.＾There¨s a certain irony that five years later I was making electronic music and I was a vegan.￣ Moby¨s evolution continues with the launch of MobyGratis.com, a website that allows students, not-for-profit filmmakers and visual artists to incorporate his music into their films free of charge. His goal is to enable filmmakers to spend their time making movies rather than contacting record companies to license music. He¨s also helping to raise funds for the Institute for Music and Neurological Function (IMNF), where researchers investigate the actual effects of music on different types of physical and neurological trauma. ＾I looked at what they were doing, and I was just stunned,￣ he explains. ＾What¨s amazing is you can have someone who¨s had a terrible stroke and lost the ability to speak, but they can still sing. Once you get them to start singing again, they [can] rebuild, in their brain, the ability to speak again.￣ While Moby appears to be one of the busier philanthropists of 2008, it¨s easy to forget that all of his contributions to society stem from an appreciation for music and the club scene. ＾When I started deejaying in the early ¨80s, I was going to clubs in New York all the time,￣ he says with a smile. ＾I really fell in love with black and Latino music of the ¨80s. So when I started making my own electronic music, it was very inspired by dance music.￣ And on Last Night, not only does Moby capture the essence of that New York party scene, but, by fusing it together with his brand of emotional orchestrations, he modernizes it. SAM FRANK ＾When I was a punk rocker in high school, I hated electronic music, and I only ate at McDonald¨s and Burger King,￣ he admits. ＾There¨s a certain irony that five years later I was making electronic music and I was a vegan.￣