Another stellar album from Ian Brown

Moby returns with a new album Wait For Me on Monday June 29. We talk to the New York musician about the record and his love of technology.

By Polly Weeks

Anyone in touch with the music scene during the late Nineties will remember an album that was impossible to avoid.

Play by Moby sold 10 million copies worldwide. Yet when Richard Melville Hall, aka Moby, first released his fifth album in 1999, it sank virtually without a trace.

Ten years later, the 43-year-old New Yorker is set to release his ninth studio album, Wait For Me. But he still remembers the creeping hysteria of those early days.

"Play was a strange record. When it first came out, it was almost a failure. It got bad reviews, didn't sell very well and didn't get any radio play," he says. "Then slowly it became an accidentally successful record."

Looking back on that period of time which brought him fame and fortune is hard for Moby. "One of the problems is that I was hungover the entire time. There are periods I don't remember all that much."

He admits that it wasn't long before he gave in to the temptations of fame. "I'm ashamed to admit this but with the success of Play I found myself enjoying fame a little too much. I found myself going to red-carpet events and I got a little caught up in it.

"But over time I realised the celebrities I was meeting were never as much fun as just having a drink with my friends. I have had much nicer conversations with the drunk at the end of a bar than a movie star at a celebrity party."

Becoming an A-list star was an eye-opener for Moby. "I learned that most famous people and celebrities are driven by insecurity. To be a big celebrity takes a lot of work.

"I think most famous people are trying to prove to the world they're not as insecure as they really are. Healthy, well-adjusted people don't desperately want to be famous."

For 24 years Moby has suffered from panic attacks and his sudden celebrity status didn't help. To control the problem, Moby began to deliberately "take pressure off myself".

He explains: "Part of that was realising I don't want to be a big famous rock star. I don't need to have records at the top of the charts."

No longer concerned about staying in the spotlight, nor counting how many people hand over their money for his releases, Moby's focus is back on the music.

"One nice thing about the demise of the record business is there's just a lot less incentive to sell a lot of records. My goal in putting out this record isn't to sell a ton of records it's just in the hope a few people will hear it and maybe it will mean something to them.

"One of the issues I have with mainstream success is that in order to have it you inevitably have to make a lot of compromises. Whenever I've made them in the past to accommodate the market place I've inevitably felt bad about it. So now I'd just like to focus on trying to make beautiful records and not compromise them if at all possible."

Now the electronica-pop musician is going back to basics. "The last record I made, Last Night, was like a history of New York dance music. A record you'd listen to if you were having a party on a Saturday night. This new one is more like a Sunday-morning-raining-outside album. It's quieter and more introspective."

Eighteen months ago, Moby watched film director and friend David Lynch give a talk at BAFTA, and his words hit home.

"David was explaining that creativity is a fantastic thing when it's not compromised by market forces.

"That re-committed me to the belief that when I make music I shouldn't be worried about commercial or mainstream success."

With Lynch's message in mind, Moby set to work and is more than happy with the result.

"The first single from Wait For Me was Shot In The Back Of The Head. As singles go, it's about as unconventional as it could be.

"It's an instrumental song so couldn't get any commercial radio play and the video was by David Lynch so couldn't get any TV play. In the end we decided to give it away for free," he laughs.

So has Moby turned his back on the formula which made him such a success? "I am pleased Play was successful but the world I came from was a much more underground experimental music world. I grew up playing in hard-core punk bands and my friends in New York were in avant-garde experimental bands. That's the world I feel more comfortable in. I've nothing against pop music it's just not where I live."

And you'll no longer find Moby at celebrity hangouts. "I very actively avoid bars which have velvet ropes and VIP areas. Going out and being social shouldn't be work," he smiles.

Extra time - Moby

:: Moby released four other albums before Play: Moby, Ambient, Everything Is Wrong and Animal Rights.

:: The musician had a dispute with Eminem which started in 2001 when he said the rapper "glorifie(d) homophobia and misogyny".

:: Moby lives in Chinatown in New York.

:: He works actively to promote animal welfare and energy sustainability.