Moby

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring dance music to a mainstream audience both in the United States and the United Kingdom".

After taking up guitar and piano at age nine, he played in several underground punk rock bands through the 1980s before turning to electronic dance music. In 1989, he moved to New York City and became a prolific figure as a DJ, producer and remixer. His 1991 single " Go" was his mainstream breakthrough, especially in Europe, where it peaked within the top ten of the charts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Between 1992 and 1997 he scored eight top 10 hits on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart including " Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)", " Feeling So Real", and " James Bond Theme (Moby Re-Version)". Throughout the decade he also produced music under various pseudonyms, released the critically acclaimed '' Everything Is Wrong'' (1995), and composed music for films. His punk-oriented album ''Animal Rights'' (1996) alienated much of his fan base.

Moby found commercial and critical success with his fifth album '' Play'' (1999) which, after receiving little recognition, became an unexpected global hit in 2000 after each track was licensed to films, television shows, and commercials. It remains his highest selling album with 12 million copies sold. Its seventh single, " South Side", featuring Gwen Stefani, remains his only one to appear on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 14. Moby followed ''Play'' with albums of varied styles including electronic, dance, rock, and downtempo music, starting with '' 18'' (2002), ''Hotel'' (2005), and '' Last Night'' (2008). His later albums saw him explore ambient music, including the almost four-hour release '' Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.'' (2016). Moby continues to record and release albums; his nineteenth studio album, '' Reprise'', was released in May 2021.

In addition to his music career, Moby is known for his veganism and support for animal rights and humanitarian aid. He was the owner of TeaNY, a vegan cafe in Manhattan, and Little Pine, a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles, and organized the vegan music and food festival Circle V. He is the author of four books, including a collection of his photography and two memoirs: '' Porcelain: A Memoir'' (2016) and '' Then It Fell Apart'' (2019).

Early life

Richard Melville Hall was born September 11, 1965, in the neighborhood of Harlem in Manhattan, New York City. He is an only child of Elizabeth McBride (''née'' Warner), a medical secretary, and James Frederick Hall, a chemistry professor, who died in a car crash while drunk when Moby was two. His father gave him the nickname Moby three days after his birth as his parents considered the name Richard too large for a newborn baby. The name was also a reference to the family's ancestry; Hall says he is the great-great-great nephew of Herman Melville, author of '' Moby-Dick''.

Moby was raised by his mother, first in San Francisco from 1969 for a short period. He recalled being sexually abused by a staff member at his daycare during this time. This was followed by a move to Darien, Connecticut, living in a squat with "three or four other drug-addicted hippies, with bands playing in the basement." The two then moved to Stratford, Connecticut, for a brief time. His mother struggled to support her son, often relying on food stamps and government welfare. They occasionally stayed with Moby's grandparents in Darien, but the affluence of the New York City suburb made him feel poor and ashamed. Shortly before his mother's death in 1997, Moby learned from her that he has a half brother. His first job was a caddy at a golf course.

Moby took up music at the age of nine. He started on classical guitar and received piano lessons from his mother before studying jazz, music theory, and percussion. In 1983, he became the guitarist in a hardcore punk band, the Vatican Commandos, playing on their debut EP ''Hit Squad for God''. Around this time he was the lead vocalist for Flipper for two days; Moby played bass for their reunion shows in the 2000s. Moby formed a post punk group named AWOL around the time of his eighteenth birthday. He is credited on their only release, a self-titled EP, as Moby Hall.

In 1983, Moby graduated from Darien High School and started a philosophy degree at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Around this time he had found the instruments he had learned "sonically limiting" and moved to electronic music. He spun records at the campus radio station WHUS, which led to DJ work in local clubs and bars. Moby grew increasingly unhappy at university, however, and transferred to State University of New York at Purchase, studying philosophy and photography, to try and renew his interest in studying. He dropped out in April 1984 to pursue DJing and music full-time, which started his interest in electronic dance music. For two years he lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he DJ'd at The Cafe, an under-21 nightclub at the back of a church. In 1987, he started to send demos of his music to record labels in New York City; he failed to receive an offer, which led to a two-year period of "very fruitless labor". Around 1988, Moby moved into a semi-abandoned factory in Stamford, Connecticut, that had no bathroom or running water, but the free electricity supply allowed him to work on his music, using a 4-track recorder, synthesizer, and drum machine.

Moby's formative musical influences include Nick Drake, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Suicide, Silver Apples, Eric B. & Rakim, and Public Enemy.

Career

1989–1993: Signing with Instinct, "Go", and breakthrough

In 1989, Moby relocated to New York City with his close friend, artist Damian Loeb. In addition to performing DJ sets in local bars and clubs, he played guitar in alternative rock group Ultra Vivid Scene and appeared in the video for their 1989 single "Mercy Seat". In 1990, Moby joined Shopwell and played on their album ''Peanuts''. Moby's first live electronic music gig followed in the summer of 1990 at Club MK; he wore a suit for the show. His future manager Eric Härle, who was in attendance, recalled Moby's set: "The music was amazing, but the show was riddled with technical mishaps. It left me very intrigued and impressed in a strange way."

By mid-1990, Moby had signed a deal as the sole artist of Instinct Records, an independent New York City-based dance label then still in its infancy. The three-man operation saw Moby answer incoming calls and make records in a studio he set up in the owner's lounge. To appear that Instinct had more artists, Moby's early singles were put out under several names such as Voodoo Child, Barracuda, Brainstorm, and UHF. The first, "Time's Up" as The Brotherhood, was co-written by Moby and vocalist Jimmy Mack. This was followed by " Mobility", his first single released as Moby, in November 1990 which sold an initial 2,000 copies. He then scored a breakthrough hit with a remix of " Go", originally a B-side to "Mobility" with an added sample of "Laura Palmer's Theme" by Angelo Badalamenti from the television series ''Twin Peaks''. Released in March 1991, it peaked at No. 10 in the UK in October and earned him national exposure there with an appearance on ''Top of the Pops''. Instinct capitalised on Moby's success with the late 1991 compilation '' Instinct Dance'' featuring tracks by Moby and his pseudonyms. The following year, Moby revealed that "Go" had earned him just $2,000 in royalties.

The success of "Go" led to increased demand for Moby to produce more music and to remix other artists' songs. He often arranged for the artist and himself to trade remixes as opposed to being paid for his work, which was the case for his mixes for Billy Corgan and Soundgarden. The increased mainstream exposure led Moby to request a release from his contract with Instinct for a bigger label. Instinct refused, so Moby retaliated by holding out on new material. However, Instinct continued to put out records, mostly from demos, without his consent having previously copied many of his tapes and had the master rights. This was the case for Moby's debut album, '' Moby'', released in July 1992 and formed mostly of previously unreleased demos that Moby considered old and unrepresentative of the musical direction he had taken since. Nonetheless, he claimed Instinct had insisted and had the legal right to put it out. It was re-titled ''The Story So Far'' and presented with a different track listing for its UK release. Four singles were released: "Go", " Drop a Beat", "Next Is the E", and a double A-side of "I Feel It" with " Thousand". The latter was recognised by ''Guinness World Records'' as the fastest tempo in a recorded song at 1,015 beats-per-minute.

In 1992, Moby completed his first US tour as the opening act for The Shamen. In mid-1992, Moby estimated that he had earned between $8,000 to $11,000 a year for the past six years. At the 1992 '' Mixmag'' awards, he smashed his keyboard after his set. After his second nationwide tour, this time with The Prodigy and Richie Hawtin, in early 1993, a second compilation of Moby's work for Instinct followed named '' Early Underground''. His second and final album on Instinct, '' Ambient'', was released in August 1993. It is a collection of mostly ambient techno instrumentals of a more experimental style. By this time Instinct had agreed to release Moby who then took legal action, claiming that the label demanded "a ridiculous amount of money" that he did not have to leave. He also expressed disagreements over the way Instinct had packaged and handled his music. Moby was eventually released after he paid the label $10,000.

1993–1998: Signing with Elektra, ''Everything Is Wrong'', and ''Animal Rights''

In 1993, Moby signed with Elektra Records which lasted for five years. He secured a deal with Mute Records, a British label, to handle his European distribution. Moby's output for Elektra/Mute began with '' Move'', a four-track EP released in August 1993. He attempted to make it in a professional studio, but he disliked the results and re-recorded it at home. The song " All That I Need Is to Be Loved (MV)" is his first song to feature his own vocals. The first single, " Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)", reached No. 1 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and No. 21 in the UK. In 1993, Moby toured as the headlining act with Orbital and Aphex Twin. A rift developed between Aphex Twin and himself, partly due to Moby's refusal to tolerate their cigarette smoke, so he travelled to each gig by plane, leaving the rest on the tour bus. In 1994, Moby put out ''Demons/Horses'', an electronic album of two 20-minute tracks under the name Voodoo Child.

Moby's contract with Elektra allowed the opportunity to make his third full-length album, which was underway in 1994. He chose to include a variety of musical styles on the album that he either liked or had been influenced by, including electronic dance, ambient, rock, and industrial music. '' Everything Is Wrong'' was released in March 1995 to critical praise; '' Spin'' magazine named it Album of the Year and some commentators considered it to be an album ahead of its time as it failed to crack the ''Billboard'' 200 or have an impact on the dance charts. In the UK, the album reached No. 25 and the singles "Hymn" and " Feeling So Real" went to Nos. 31 and 30, respectively. Elektra took advantage of its diverse sound by distributing tracks of the same style to corresponding radio stations nationwide. Early copies put out in the UK and Germany included a bonus CD of ambient music entitled ''Underwater''. Moby toured the album with some headline spots on the second stage at the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. He followed it with a double remix album, '' Everything Is Wrong—Mixed and Remixed''.

The success of ''Everything Is Wrong'' had Moby reach a new peak in critical acclaim. The ''Los Angeles Times'' thought the 29-year-old Moby was "poised for greatness ..to make that big crossover" from a respected underground artist to a mainstream dance and rock musician. '' Billboard'' declared him "King of techno" and ''Spin'' named him "the closest techno comes to a complete artist." In 1995, Moby was approached by Courtney Love to produce the next Hole album, but he declined. He directed the music video for "Young Man's Stride" by Mercury Rev

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