Moby

Moby
a.k.a. Richard Melville Hall

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MOBY PLAYS THE NUMBERS GAME

With 18, Moby Follows Up the Biggest Dance Album of All Time
No one -- least of all Moby -- could have predicted that 1999's Play would have sold ten million copies. The poster boy for electronica, the 36-year-old New Yorker was at best only a vaguely recognizable star in a "next big thing" that never happened. But here he is three years later, hobnobbing with the likes of Gwen Stefani and Christina Ricci in his off hours, hosting his own video show on M2, and releasing 18, his hotly anticipated follow-up to Play. Not that fame has gone to the slight vegan's shorn head. Tantrums and excess have no appeal for the great-great-grandnephew of author Herman Melville. The grooves and tunes on 18 hew to those of the now-ubiquitous Play, which has sustained a three-year ride buoyed by savvy use in advertisements and film soundtracks -- as well as at dinner parties the world over. Call it adult contemporary electronica. As Barnes & Noble.com's Lily Moayeri found out, Moby might just thank you.

Barnes & Noble.com: There is a great deal of similarity between Play and 18. Were you trying to build on the success of Play?

Moby: It wasn't really a conscious choice. When I did Everything Is Wrong [in 1995], my agenda was to do as many different things as I could, make this wildly eclectic record, to try and challenge people. Animal Rights [from 1996] was this dark, self-indulgent record. After I got that out of my system, I realized I wanted to make nice records that hopefully people can fall in love with. With Play and [18] -- not to sound like a cliché, but it's the first time it's about the music. I wasn't concerned about genre or style. I was trying to make a record that I thought was beautiful.

B&N.com: Has your relationship with your music changed now that it is more widely heard?

M: To an extent. A lot of people tell me the music I make is important to them. That makes me feel a sense of responsibility to make another record that will also be important to them. With that comes a certain sense of responsibility.

B&N.com: What was your goal in recording 18?

M: I envision someone in their bedroom or living room listening to one of my records. I want to make something that will reach them, something they can care about, that can be important to them and that they can get emotionally involved in. Everything else is secondary to that -- that's my main goal. If it is commercially or critically successful, that's terrific, too. But those are secondary or tertiary goals.

B&N.com: Are you expecting to sell as many of 18 as you did of Play?

M: Oh, no. Even if nothing had changed, I wouldn't expect to sell as many. Also, the music business has changed so much in the last three years. I don't know if anyone is going to have ten-million-selling records any more.

B&N.com: Most mainstream audiences still consider your music "techno." What would you call it?

M: There's this whole genre of music that doesn't really have a name. Myself, Massive Attack, Björk -- all these people that are inspired by dance and electronic music but who make more eclectic, less dance-oriented records. I wish someone would come up with a name for the genre, so that way when people ask me what kind of music I make, I can say this.

B&N.com: Were there any license requests for music from Play that you said no to on an ethical basis?

M: In my contract, it says record companies are not allowed to use my music to sell tobacco products, meat products, and weapons of mass destruction. Occasionally I'll get the journalist who is feeling high-and-mighty say something like, "How can you let your music be used in commercials?" And my new answer, which I am very proud of, is, "Well, I understand your concern, your moral high ground, because obviously the magazine you work for doesn't accept advertisements."

B&N.com: It didn't hurt financially either, did it?

M: Honestly, it has nothing to do with the financial aspects of it. If I make music, the main thing is to get people to listen to it. That means getting it to play on the radio, MTV, a movie, whatever, so I'll take advantage of every medium that's offered to me.

B&N.com: Do you think the licensing drove the majority of sales for Play?

M: I think it was a variety of things. A large part of it was word-of-mouth that was fed by the music becoming ubiquitous -- used in movies, TV shows, and advertisements. That way someone would go to someone else's house and hear the record and say, "Oh boy, I know these songs," and they'd go out and buy it.

B&N.com: Do you feel different after all the success?

M: Not really. I'm 36 years old. If I'd been 21 years old when Play came out and it was my first record, then life would be very different. I feel a little bit more secure on a career level, like now I'm on more equal footing with people who are interested in the record. Rather than me fighting to get their attention, I'm suddenly in their league.

B&N.com: You also have your own show on MTV now, Señor Moby's House of Music.

M: I'm so excited about that. MTV said they'd give me a 30-minute show where I could play whatever music I wanted. I said I'd do it, but only if they let me film it with a camcorder.

B&N.com: Do you play only dance music videos?

M: I didn't play any the first show. It was Goldfrapp, Gorillaz, U.N.K.L.E., and Liquid Liquid. The second show was the Hives, White Stripes, David Bowie, Air, and Clinic.

B&N.com: So you're just playing videos you like?

M: Mainly. I'm don't want it to be an oldies show, so I'm really trying to limit myself to one older video per show. I'm trying very hard to focus on things that are brand new. I'm putting together this fun, subjective, organic show.

B&N.com: What else are you enjoying listening to currently?

M: The same stuff everybody else seems to like. The Strokes. I like a lot of hip-hop and R&B. There's this band from L.A. called Freesha, very quiet, pretty music.

B&N.com: What would you ideally like to happen with 18?

M: I'd like for people to like it. I think it's really special, and there's a select group of people who will find a very special spot for it.

April 23, 2002