Moby
Animal Rights (Elektra)
An interview with Moby
by Joshua Brown
The paradigm shift brought on by electronic dance music’s increasing maturity owes a great deal to Richard Hall, most recently known as Moby and Voodoo Child. Early Moby singles like “Go,” “Thousand,” and “Next Is the E” are still awe-inspiring reminders, a decade and a half later, of how unabashedly celebratory music can be while remaining cutting edge. And of what an incredible voice the guy has. Moby’s major label debut, Everything Is Wrong(Elektra), introduced the electric guitar to his constellation of sounds on a couple tracks, but it was still invigorating dance music even when Richard was singing the most depressing, self-absorbed lyrics. Although he has released more pure electronica recently via Voodoo Child, whose new album The End of Everything is available only on import, the new Moby album, Animal Rights, is not danceable. In fact, most of it is abrasive, somewhat traditional guitar-driven stuff with coarse vocals. Absent are any of the ultra high-pitched wails of vocal beauty that characterized most of Hall’s output. From a music biz perspective, this would appear to be a bad career move since electronic dance music, the genre which he helped develop, is at an all time high in popularity, and alternative rock and metal are currently waning. Richard Hall is a stubborn individual who probably wouldn’t ever consider any sort of compromise with popular opinion when it comes to making his music. Undoubtedly many electronic fans consider the new album a disappointment, and it’s tough to predict whether or not the alternative crowd will pick up on it. Since Moby achieves a depth of emotion with his traditional “band” setup that is only feigned by most grungesters, especially on tunes like “Say It’s All Mine” and the current single “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” (a Mission of Burma cover), one wonders if it isn’t a bit “too much” for mainstream tastes. The songs which are most similar to the sound that has made Moby famous are the quiet, brooding, vocalless washes of synths and tiptoeing beats. Although mind-bogglingly simplistic, tunes like “Anima,” “Alone,” and “Dead Sun” are transcendent, and sometimes tear-jerking enough to keep Moby’s electronica fans busy until the next album comes out.
So you’re currently turned off by electronic dance music and embracing the alternative rock aesthetic?
I haven’t become completely turned off by dance music. I still really like a lot of the music. The only thing I can compare it to is getting divorced from someone. There was a period in the mid ’80s when I fell in love with dance music.
So why the falling out?
The thing with electronic music is that it’s not really artist oriented. It’s all singles based. If I look through all my old 12″s, rarely is there going to be a record by more than one artist, with the exception of maybe Todd Terry. If I look through my CD collection I have a bunch of albums by the same artists, like Joy Division, Black Sabbath, or Bad Brains. So I kinda fell in love with dance music in the mid ’80s, then around ’92 I realized I was falling out of love with it. From ’92 to ’94 I slowly lost interest.
Did this happen with you just as dance music was peaking in Europe?
Yeah, ’90 to ’92 were the peak years, especially ’91. It was towards the end of ’92 that things started to get kinda messy for me.
Was it mostly a personal falling out or more a large scale issue?
Mostly what was going on on a larger scale. I felt like the things I had fallen in love with in dance culture just weren’t important any more. I fell in love with it because it was passionate, energetic, naive, fun, and celebratory. Then suddenly it became about everyone worrying too much. Worrying about the clothes they were wearing, worrying about the drugs they were taking, worrying if they were dancing the right way, DJs all thinking, “Ooh, I wonder if I’m playing the right record.” And I felt really frustrated, cause that’s just not what it’s supposed to be about.
Do you see things getting better or worse at the moment?
About two years ago I sort of separated myself from the whole culture so I don’t really know what’s going on now. When I do occasionally go out, I like a lot of what I hear, but it’s just not very memorable. I’ll hear a great record and then five minutes later be hard pressed to identify it. I guess I just don’t feel that connection any more.
I’ve always thought of you as sorta on your own, anyhow.
There was a time when I was always at clubs or raves, but then I just had to accept the fact that it didn’t interest me on anything more than a peripheral level.
Are you gonna be playing an all-rock format live?
That’s all I’ve done for the past eight months or so.
Do you need a backup band?
Yeah, well on the album I play all the instruments but when I tour I have the standard lineup of guitar, bass, and drums.
This is kind of off the subject, but how does your relationship with Christ differ from orthodox interpretations?
When someone is talking about “Christianity” I generally have no idea what they’re referring to. Not to sound pedantic, but does that mean Greek Orthodox Christianity, Russian Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism in its many facets, Southern Baptist, Episcopalianism, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Evangelical, Conservative, etc.? There are so many different types of Christianity that if someone asks me if I’m a Christian I just say I have no idea what that means. I love Christ and I try to live according to Christ’s teachings, but I don’t ascribe to any of those denominations I just mentioned. Christianity means so many different things to so many different people that at this point, I’m happy just to leave the word alone.
What musical creation of yours are your most proud of? What pieces do you most often find yourself revisiting?
The stuff I listen to the most tends to be the quiet instrumental stuff.
Stuff with a more “ambient” orientation?
I hate that word. If you must use it, you can.
Well, you named an album after the word, right?
You see, here’s the thing. It’s safe to assume, when an album comes out, the artist was involved in naming it. But in that case, my old label Instinct put out the album without my being involved.
So they had your original tapes and put it out without consulting you?
The first three albums of mine, Moby, Ambient, and Early Underground, were all put out without my involvement. I had nothing to do with the artwork or anything.
How did that happen?
They’re legally allowed to do that. I don’t really fault them for it ’cause they’re a record company and they had rights to those songs.
So you lived in a haunted house when you were a kid?
For a little while.
What kinda stuff did you see?
I would hear my name being whispered. Things flying off tables.
The real deal.
Yup. I suppose I could be making it all up, but if I was I’d probably make it more interesting.
Do you believe the music press that alternative rock is on the wane and that electronic music is about to break big, or do you think it’s all hype?
I think there’s a problem with all this attention being paid to electronic music. You know, all the labels are trying to sign electronic artists, and MTV and all the alternative stations want to play more electronic stuff. The one problem is that it’s not out there. As far as I can tell, there are only about four or five viable electronic acts.
You mean those who have a whole stage show, like Orbital and the Prodigy?
You could break it down even further and say that the Prodigy are the only viable electronic “band.” So it’s hard to have a revolution when there’s only one band. All the other groups make good music but they can’t tour or make videos (ahem. Wake up and smell the Buzz Clips, dude.- J.B.). They don’t have a front person, they don’t do many photo shoots or interviews. Sure, Orbital and the Chemical Brothers make good music, but from a fan’s perspective, I need a little more than just a decent record.
Do you think this is partially due to a sort of “underground” elitism?
I think it’s that people are shy. You’ve got all these producers and DJs and they’re content to just DJ and make records in their bedrooms. Either they don’t want to do more or they’re afraid to.
What will the next Moby album be like?
It probably won’t be quite as polarized as Animal Rights, which basically had two different types of songs: soft, quiet ones and hard, noisy ones. The next record might be a little more integrated.
Did you consciously incorporate specific rock influences on Animal Rights or was it more spontaneous than that?
I didn’t, like, sit down and make a list of what influences I wanted to incorporate. It was spontaneous in that I wrote the songs without really being aware where they were coming from.
Do you usually sit down to write a song having no idea where you’re gonna go with it?
It’s a physical, emotional, and intellectual process. Not to sound too high falutin’ about it, but it’s an immediate process that involves all my faculties. It’s an interplay between the conscious and subconscious.
What do you hope to accomplish over the next decade or so?
I’d like to be better at communicating things that are important to me to other people. I have this kinda naive idea that the world should be a different place than it is right now, and I’d like to be involved in changing it by trying to understand more and be honest about my understanding. Some things that matter to me involve environmental and ethical responsibility.
