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Moby

Moby Biography

Singer-songwriter

Moby, born Richard Melville Hall, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer known for his innovative contributions to the electronic music genre. His music blends various styles, including electronic, rock, jazz, and classical. Moby's work has had a profound impact on both the music industry and popular culture.

Moby, born Richard Melville Hall, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer known for his innovative contributions to the electronic music genre. His music blends various styles, including electronic, rock, jazz, and classical. Moby's work has had a profound impact on both the music industry and popular culture.

Related Quotes

“The kick in the teeth with fame is, when you don't have it, you beat yourself up for it because you don't have it, but when you have it, you are miserable and kill yourself for it.”

Author:Moby

“Twin Peaks was my religion. Well, Twin Peaks and Christianity. But at present, Twin Peaks was winning. I loved God, but at the moment I was more obsessed with Bob and Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne.”

Hbo Twin Peaks Showtime David Lynch Sho

Book:Porcelain: A Memoir

Source: Porcelain: A Memoir

“If we base our belief systems on the humble assumption that the complexities of the world are ontologically beyond our understanding, then maybe our belief systems will make more sense and end up causing less suffering.”

Ifs World Ends Suffering Belief Understanding Logic Humble Certainty Uncertainty Complexity Assumption Reasoning Belief Systems Ontology

Author:Moby

“The world is too big and too intricate to conform to our ideas of what it should be like... Just because we invent myths and theories to explain away the chaos we're still going to live in a world that's older and more complicated than we'll ever understand.”

World Should Stills Ideas Bigs Theory Logic Chaos Complicated Myth Certainty Uncertainty Reasoning Conform Intricate Ontology

Author:Moby

“I’ve been making electronic music for twenty some odd years but, because I grew up playing in punk rock bands, when I started touring, I thought in order to be a viable touring musician I had to do it with a band. I would DJ or tour with a full rock band.”

Years Order Rocks Grew Band Grew Up Musician Twenties Odd Punk Touring Punk Rock Djs Rock Bands Electronic Music

Author:Moby

“Maybe it's a form of overcompensation, but whenever I've toured, I've always needed a huge performance component.”

Form Huge Needed Performances Components

Author:Moby

“Can't do any work with a rock star; you have to go through their lawyers and their agents and their managers and you have to book them hotel rooms. When you work with your friends, you just call them up and they come over and you record and then you go out to see a movie.”

Book Stars Rooms Records Rocks Lawyer Agents Managers Hotel Rock Star Hotel Rooms

Author:Moby

“I don't think of myself as a singer; I usually end up singing when I can't find anyone better to sing, or when I'm too lazy to find someone better.”

Thinking I Can Ends Singing Singers Lazy

Author:Moby

“I like singing, but it's certainly not my strong point.”

Author:Moby

“Sometimes I love the marriage of art and commerce; I love Donna Summer; I like the Rolling Stones.”

Art Sometimes Summer Stones Commerce Rolling Rolling Stones

Author:Moby

“Success usually breeds a degree of hubris.”

Author:Moby

“I remember I went to Berlin right after the Wall came down. I first went to East Berlin, and all the buildings were old and falling down, and now when you go back to Berlin, you know you're in the East because all the buildings are brand new and very tall.”

Knows Firsts Remember Fall Building Wall Down And East Brands Tall Falling Down Berlin Brand New East Berlin

Author:Moby

“I've experienced tons of failure. I've been making music for 30 years, and I'd say failure and success have happened in equal measure.”

Years Happened Equal Success And Failure

Author:Moby

“In 1992 I was doing one of my first ever tours and I was in Heathrow airport and I saw these middle-aged musicians who had clearly been on tour for decades, and they all looked haggard and unhappy and unhealthy. I vowed to myself that I would never be that person. Flash forward 20 years and I found myself in Heathrow looking haggard and unhappy and unhealthy. I decided I would rather spend my time staying home working on music and making dinner with friends, instead of spending six months in a hotel in a state of depressing suspended adolescence.”

“I realized that I don't like touring. I'll never complain about it because no one wants to hear about a relatively successful musician complain about the hardships of staying in a hotel.”

Want Successful Musician Complaining I Realized Hotel Staying Hardship Touring

Author:Moby

“Because I've been that drunk person in the club so many thousands of times, when I'm in an environment where people are drunk or on drugs, I certainly don't judge them. Because it's almost a given that for much of my life I've been way more messed up than them.”

People Way Persons Given Environment Judging Drug Clubs Drunk Messed Up

Author:Moby

“At 3 o'clock in the morning on tour when you're sober is a lot less fun than 3 a.m. when you're drunk in a bar or in a nightclub. But having said that, 9 in the morning on tour sober is immeasurably better than 9 a.m. on tour when you're hung over and feeling like death.”

Said Feelings Fun Morning Bars Drunk Clock Hung Sober Nightclubs

Author:Moby

“I went to Columbia University because they were doing a study on people who suffered from panic attacks, and because I suffered from panic attacks my whole life, I decided to be a part of it. They had this questionnaire where they asked, How many units of alcohol do you have in a month? The top answer was 40 or more, and I got really scared because I was having on average 60 or 70 drinks a week. And I realized that that was a bad sign.”

People Whole Answers Study Week Months Drink Decided University Average Scared Alcohol I Realized Whole Life Panic Units Columbia Panic Attacks Columbia University Questionnaires

Author:Moby

“It will be interesting to see what the long term fruits of our national apathy will be, 'cos so far they've been pretty foul.”

Long Term Interesting Fruit Long Term Apathy Foul

Author:Moby

“One simple word: ugh. Is something still considered a conspiracy if it's played out right under our noses?”

Ifs Stills Simple Noses Conspiracy Ugh Simple Words

Author:Moby

“For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you're an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion.Then you go to an anti-immigration website chat room and ask, "What's all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?"”

Knows Asks Rooms Example Goes On Paid Wings Immigration Aliens Girlfriend Abortion Illegal Voters Exes Website Right Wing Pro Life Clinic Outraged Amnesty Illegal Aliens Ex Girlfriend

Author:Moby

“For his sake I'm sorry that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil, but for our sake and the sake of music I'm glad he did.”

Soul Devil Sorry Sake Glad I'm Sorry Johnson

Author:Moby

“I had an epiphany a few years ago where I was out at a celebrity party and it suddenly dawned on me that I had yet to meet a celebrity who is as smart and interesting as any of my friends.”

Years Interesting Party Smart My Friends Years Ago Epiphany

Author:Moby

“I learned in the last few years that it's really unhappy and really unsustainable to try and base your well being on something as arbitrary as record sale and critical acclaim and the interests of the public. All of those things are so fickle. So my approach now to music is I want to make records that I love, and I hope that other people love them, then that's OK.”

People Want Trying Years Wells Lasts Interest Records Approach Music Is Critical Unhappy Well Being Arbitrary Fickle Acclaim

Author:Moby

“I will be very sad when global warming and toxins kill off all the toads and frogs and salamanders. Here's hoping we, as humans, figure out a way to be less stupid.”

Way Humans Stupid Figures Global Warming Frogs Very Sad Toads Toxins Salamanders

Author:Moby

“I'm not sure how healthy it is to shoot police helicopters with bazookas.”

Healthy Police Not Sure Helicopters Bazookas

Author:Moby

“All of us little bald white guys wearing glasses kind of look the same.”

Looks Kind Littles Guy White Glasses White Guys

Author:Moby

“I find the fact that so few people buy albums to be strangely emancipating. There's absolutely no reason for 99% of musicians making albums to think about actually selling albums. So as a musician you can just make an album for the love of making albums.”

People Thinking Reason Facts Musician Albums Selling No Reason

Author:Moby

“My records are fairly quiet and my dj sets are really loud. And then the live shows are like a robot soul revue. So i understand people's confusion.”

People Soul Shows Records Quiet Confusion Loud Robots Djs

Author:Moby

“I honestly haven't thought much about what to play and where, perhaps i should...it seems like most musicians are better at that than I am.”

Should Play Seems Havens Musician Honestly

Author:Moby

“I love nyc. It's the city of my birth and probably the most amazing city on the planet.”

Cities Planets Birth Most Amazing Nyc

Author:Moby

“For me my biggest inspiration is trying to make music that effects me as much as the music made by my heroes.”

Trying Made Inspiration Effects Hero My Hero

Author:Moby

“When I dj at big venues I try to play tracks that I would want to hear if I were e'd up in a field with 50,000 other people.”

People Ifs Want Trying Play Bigs Fields Track Djs Venues

Author:Moby

“I know it's simple, but my main inspiration is just my love of music. I know that sounds overly naive. But it's true.”

Knows Inspiration Sound Simple Naive Music Love

Author:Moby

“I love that vinyl is actually growing in popularity, and that there are so many great record stores.”

Records Growing Stores Popularity Vinyl Record Stores

Author:Moby

“I like my coffee like I like my romantic partners: cold and bitter and prone to giving me anxiety attacks.”

Giving Cold Anxiety Partners Coffee Bitter Anxiety Attacks

Author:Moby

“Unfortunately I'm still straight. But who knows, life is complicated and maybe I'll wake up gay tomorrow! Here's hoping. And congratulations to everyone who lives in a place where they can marry the person they love, regardless of gender!”

Knows Persons Stills Life Is Tomorrow Gay Wake Up Complicated Gender Congratulations Life Is Complicated

Author:Moby

“I honestly just love being in my studio working on music. That's all the inspiration I need. And I don't write with an end result in mind, I just write for the simple love of writing.”

Needs Writing Mind Ends Inspiration Simple Love Is Results Studios Honestly End Results Simple Love

Author:Moby

“I've been friends with madonna for ever. In fact she was at my 3rd solo performance in 1990, and there were only 10 people in the audience.”

People Facts Audience Performances Solo

Author:Moby

“There's no wrong way to meditate. And meditation should never be a difficult practice that leads to self criticism.”

Way Should Self Difficult Practice Meditation Criticism Wrong Way Self Criticism

Author:Moby

“Luckily almost no one buys music anymore, so selling music doesn't really affect any of my professional decisions.”

Decision Selling

Author:Moby

“How wondrous familiar is a fool!”

Fool Familiar Wondrous

Author:Moby

“What I love about making albums in the 21st century is that so few people buy albums! I can make an album without any commercial concerns whatsoever.”

People I Can Century Concern Albums 21st Century

Author:Moby

“An artist in 2014 who is thinking about album sales is either sadly deluded or has to make so many commercial compromises that it sort of takes the joy out of making music.”

Thinking Joy Artist Albums Compromise Deluded

Author:Moby

“I have nothing against bombastic music, but when it comes to making albums, I'd prefer to make music that has a sort of vulnerable subtlety to it.”

Albums Vulnerable Subtlety Bombastic

Author:Moby

“My main interest is just to work with people who have beautiful, interesting, emotive voices; I'm not too concerned whether someone is famous.”

People Beautiful Voice Interest Interesting Concerned

Author:Moby

“I think it'd be great if Prince made an album of just romantic, slow ballads.”

Ifs Thinking Made Albums Ballads

Author:Moby

“I’ve never seen the need to choose one type of music at the exclusion of another. That would feel kind of sad and arbitrary.”

Feels Kind Type Arbitrary Exclusion

Author:Moby

“When I was very young, I played in a punk-rock band, but I also studied music theory and classical music.”

Young Rocks Theory Band Punk Classical Music Punk Rock Rock Bands Music Theory

Author:Moby

“In some ways it's hard to see electronic music as a genre because the word "electronic" just refers to how it's made. Hip-hop is electronic music. Most reggae is electronic. Pop is electronic. House music, techno, all these sorts of ostensibly disparate genres are sort of being created with the same equipment.”

Way Made Hard House Hip Hop Pops Hips Genre Hops Equipment Reggae Electronic Music Techno House Music

Author:Moby

About the Author

Born: September 11, 1965
Known for: Singer-songwriter
Quotes: 453

Related Topics

People Ifs Thinking Want Records World Musician Way Feels Trying

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Porcelain: A MemoirRelated source material

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