Moby: Hotel Check-In

by Andy Gensler

On the eve of HOTEL, Moby's first album release in three years, Music for Human Rights caught up with America's most popular electronic/dance musician, committed political activist, restauranteur, published author, and of course, ice tea manufacturer.

When I finally reach Moby on a snowy afternoon in late-February at his spartan NoLiTa (North of Little Italy) digs in downtown Manhattan his plate is spectacularly full, overflowing in a manner that only this uniquely 21st century artist's dishware could.

Not only is his new album Hotel (V2 Records) and the book he co-authored, Teany Book (Viking Studio/Penguin) simultaneously coming out on March 22, but he is leaving on a European promotional tour in a few days, launching a new web site, planning a concert tour, and making decisions about things like an exclusive marketing deal with the W Hotel chain. All this in addition to overseeing a growing business empire that includes a vegan restaurant (Teany), a t-shirt design studio (the Little Idiot), and a line of ice teas (you haven't lived until you've tried the Vanilla Berry Hibiscus) -- and that doesn't even take into account the myriad progressive political causes he actively supports.

Though our interview is postponed for three hours and book-ended by two others, Moby is indefatigable. That he's willing to put aside time to speak with Amnesty International's Music For Human Rights Initiative, is testament to his commitment to supporting human rights and Amnesty (Moby first began his work with Amnesty in the 1980's DJing an event to benefit AI and raise awareness about the anti-apartheid movement, and more recently tagged a Amnesty International Music For Human Rights Zoo York skateboard in 2002 for auction).

As Moby answers questions, he is focused and intent despite a flurry of activity and obligations swirling about. His rapid-fire answers, rapier wit, and astute observations on a variety of political, music, and personal topics make it clear why Moby is one of today's most vital and venerated artists.

On March 22nd Moby will release Hotel, his seventh album. If his iconoclastic career is any indication, this record will sound nothing like previous albums. No Alan Lomax field recording samples like on 1999's double-platinum Play (in fact there are no samples on this album whatsoever); none of the pounding techno beats found on his breakthrough 1991 single "Go," the song that first catapulted him into the international spotlight; nor any of the rock tropes from his 1996 album Animal Rights that left more than a few of his dance music fans scratching their noggins.

Hotel ranges from the grandiose and cinematic, complete with swelling strings and layered orchestrations, to intimate confessionals to songs that wouldn't sound out of place on a 1980s John Hughes soundtrack. "A lot of the music I grew up with is popular again," Moby explains. "The old has become new again. I go to a trendy bar on [New York City's] Lower East Side and there's a 22-year old DJ playing Joy Division and a 23-year old kid whose favorite bands are Depeche mode and the Chameleons. I feel like if the rest of the world is going to be re-presenting me with music I grew up with, it gives me license to allow myself to musically manifest the songs and sounds that were important to me."

Indeed tracks with synthesized beats and dulcet melodies like "Dream About Me" "Where You End," and "Beautiful" bear at least passing resemblance to '80s artists like Yaz, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. Elsewhere the song "Very" is a more overt homage to disco diva Donna Summer and producer Giorgio Moroder with its funky, percolating beats and siren-like vocals by Laura Dawn who by day holds down a job as the cultural director of the political action committee Moveon.org. "She's an old friend," Moby explains, "and she lives in the same neighborhood as I do, plus she has a beautiful voice. She used to be in the band Fluffer."

His biggest nod to ‘80s new wave, however, is his cover of New Order's "Temptation," which ironically, with a slowed down groove and Dawn's sultry, soulful vocals, may have the least ‘80s feel on the album. "I was always impressed with the quality of 'Temptation's lyrics, Moby explains. "It has this vulnerable emotional quality and I wanted a version that emphasized those qualities. "

A preponderance of somber songs, like "Raining Again," "Slipping Away," or "Where You End" might erroneously lead you to conclude that Moby is in a state of emotional despondency. "No, no, no," he insists, "a lot of these songs are just based on my last two serious relationships, where there was a lot of love and caring, they just didn't work out." Moby wrote over 250 songs for Hotel, which he narrowed down to his fourteen favorite, which do have a recurring theme of love and sadness.

Knowing Moby commitment to politics, it would stand to reason that some of Hotel's pathos could be metaphorical for the difficult political times progressive artists like him face. "Maybe loosely," he says. "songs like 'Raining Again‚ and 'Lift me Up‚' may have political components, but not overtly. It's more that the depressing political circumstances influenced some of the depressing personal circumstances."

"It's obviously not such a happy time to be progressive in the United States. I'm disappointed that mainstream America turned out to be more conservative than I imagined. And the left, at this point, doesn't have its own agenda. All they seem to do is respond to the right. I can't remember in the last few years the left coming up with initiatives and quite honestly I don't even know what the left stands for anymore."

Unlike his characterizations of the American left, Moby knows exactly where he stands and has a number of political issues near and dear to his heart. "The issues most important to me include human rights, economic justice, judicial fairness, environmental issues, and animal rights. I work with a lot of different organizations either actively or passively. There's a music therapy program in the Bronx I work with."

Moby strongly believes in the power of art and artists to affect change. "I believe one of the primary responsibilities of a public figure is to use their fame to draw attention to issues that are deserving of people's attention. Musicians are not better informed than anybody else—and often times they are less informed—but they do have a bully pulpit. By writing a song, or talking about certain things in interviews, or by having benefit concerts they can draw attention to important issues."

The first issue Moby cites sparking his political consciousness is an oft overlooked chapter of American environmental history: The near-meltdown in 1979 of the Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Middletown, Pennsylvania. "It made me suddenly realize that there were power plants in heavily populated areas that had the power to kill millions of people — and that's just insanity. I was probably 9-years old at the time, but I remember thinking who in their right minds builds a structure that is potentially so toxic and dangerous that it could kill millions of people? It struck me as a disaster waiting to happen."

Three decades later, Moby's political passions have hardly cooled, but he doesn't like to fuse his passion for politics with his artistic expressions. "The music I make tends to be more personal than political," he says. "I admire people who can write great political songs, but it's just not one of my strengths. Whenever I try to write political music it ends up being quite compromised. I prefer to sing about emotions and talk about politics." A claim that is clearly self-evident.

Moby's first foray into publishing is called Teany Book and it comes out the sane day as Hotel. But unlike when he talks about music or politics, he's at a loss for words to explain his publishing debut: "It's a hard book to describe," he says. "Part of it is a cook book, but it also has a lot of stories, photo essays, and cartoons. It's one of the most idiosyncratic books I've ever seen – it only makes sense when you see it. My ex-girlfriend Kelly and I own a little restaurant on Rivington Street called Teany and we just had this idea to make a book. It basically takes every aspect of Kelly's life and mine and throws it into a blender and pours it out. It's really odd and it' s really funny and every time I read it, it makes me laugh. I like the writing quite a lot, but it's very hard to categorize."

Sort of like trying to categorize a person who is a famous electronic musician who is also a political activist, a vegan restaurant owner, a t-shirt design studio owner, and an ice-t manufacturer.