Notes and Quotes: Moby
Words by Cosmo Soave-Smith
Honestly, I never expect to have a career as a musician, and I never expected to make records that people would actually be willing to listen to. It still kinds of amazes me.
I started out when I was 9 years old studying classical music, so from the time I was 9 until 13 I studied classical guitar and music theory. I had a music teacher who only liked complicated music. He liked classical music and jazz, as long as it was incredibly complicated.
When I was 13, I discovered punk rock and started a punk rock band and broke my music teachers heart. He just didn’t understand. It was the early 80s and it was this amazing time. People were being very experimental – rock bands were making dance records and dance bands were making rock records so it was this really open time and I liked everything. As long as it was new I was thrilled by it.
The first single I put out under my own name was called ‘Go’ and I just wanted to sell 4000 copies.
What is true of whatever success I’ve had in my life, it’s been completely accidental. Completely unplanned for. Confusing. Baffling.
In 1996 I put out this album called Animal Rights, which is a very dark, grim, hard to listen to punk rock record, almost like punk rock/metal, and it got terrible reviews. I think Rolling Stone gave it one star out of ten stars. It sold nothing. I was playing to 50 people a night. Although, um, Axl Rose really liked it. He told me he listened to it on repeat. Which was strange.
Even though I came from this weird punk rock underground music background, when Play became successful, and I’m ashamed to say this, I liked it too much; the success; the going to parties with movie stars and going to red-carpet events and doing interviews with like, E Hollywood Extra… whatever.
At first I thought it was like I was like a cultural anthropologist visiting the world of fame. And then I found it was actually really seductive. And I was drinking way too much and I was doing a lot of drugs and I was engaging in really clichéd rock star behaviour.
I started having these slow realisations that when I hung out with my friends, I had a nice time and when I hung out with celebrities, I felt anxious and depressed. When I went to a bar with my friends we had a lovely time, when I went to the met bar and was doing coke with some B-list actor, I was miserable. Slowly I realised, ‘Oh, I’m not supposed to be here.’
The more I pursued fame, the less happy I became.
I have nothing against top 40 or commercial music, but it’s just not my world. If I have commercial success it should be something I’ve accomplished, not something I’ve tried to accomplish. I’m just thrilled if a couple of people are willing to listen to the record and if there’s anything more than that, it’s a bonus.
Where I live on the lower east side is where the venues where so many bands started. In my neighbourhood is where The Strokes and TV On The Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol and even the Scissor Sisters started, all within a 3-block radius. So going out to see bands is the easiest thing in the world. It’s harder not to see them than to see them.
If you look at the past, the best records were never made in the interests of making money. They were made because the artist wanted to make great records. Even Led Zeppelin, when they were selling millions of records you still got the sense that what they cared for first and foremost about was the artistry of it.
In New York, when people in the media talk about art or culture, they don’t talk about their subjective emotional reaction to it, they talk about how much money its made and I just don’t want to be involved in that. If that makes people happy then great, all I can say is for me, that’s unhealthy.
Up until recently I drank a lot. I had to stop drinking just ‘cos the hangovers got too bad. When I was 21, I could drink until 6 o’clock in the morning and have no hangover. Or have a charming little hangover that went away by 11 o’clock in the morning. And lately I would stay up until 7 or 8 in the morning drinking and the hangover would last 24 hours. Yes, everyone has that to look forward to.
Truly, my 2 favourite things to drink are cheap American beer and vodka. My favourite cocktail is room temperature tequila. I love room temperature tequila. But I avoided tequila ‘cos that’s when all of a sudden I’m trying to throw garbage cans through plate glass windows.
The only non-nerdy thing I do is kickboxing, but I’ve had to stop because I broke my ankle. If I tell half the story it sounds really tough. If people ask how I broke my ankle, I broke it kickboxing, I was actually in the ring fighting. The truth is I was in the ring walking back to my corner and somehow I stumbled. Just walking. Simple walking.
There’s just something really satisfying about hitting a punching bag as hard as you can. As far as stress release goes, nothing is better.
I recorded around 300 songs to get down to these 16 on the new album so there’s this process of attrition where you start with 300, you get down to 200, you get down to 100; its like an Agatha Christie book, you know? ‘And then there were 16!’
I lose objectivity very quickly because it’s just me alone in my studio working. So when I start playing it for other people, I see how they respond and that helps me regain a modicum of objectivity.
It’s healthier for me to put out a record and not expect people to pay attention cos if you expect mainstream success if you expect a huge audience you’re disappointed when you don’t get it.
I write on my blog. A lot. It’s almost like I have tourette’s or something.
My plan is to make music until the day I die and if anyone is willing to listen then I’m thrilled and flattered.
It’s funny when I see famous bands who want to still strive for mainstream success after years and years. I look at some bands and I think ‘are you ever going to be satisfied?’ Like, the Rolling Stones? If I were Mick Jagger, I’d be wanting to play in small gypsy bars in Kansas or something. Not doing these 18-month tours playing huge stadiums.
Did anyone else just see Mick Jagger in the lobby? That’s really scary.
Posted Wed, May 27, 2009