Richard Melville Hall

Musician Date of birth September 11 (Virgo) 1965 (53) Place of birth New York Instagram @moby

Moby is an American electronic singer-songwriter, composer, and DJ. Also known by his real name, Richard Melville Hall. Works in many genres. Solo artist. Plays several instruments. He usually makes studio recordings himself, but goes to concerts with his rock band. At first he played in The Vatican Commandos, with a hardcore punk direction, and in the late 80s he began to write electronic music. He released his first album in '92, but Everything is Wrong and Animal Rights and Play brought him fame. The artist has sold over 20 million discs worldwide. AllMusic considers him "an important dance music figure in the early 1990s". The composer collaborated with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Mylene Farmer, Metallica and other stars. He wrote over a hundred film soundtracks and starred in several films.

Moby's biography

Richard Melville Hall was born on September 11, 1965 in Harlem, a suburb of New York. His mother, Elizabeth McBride Warner-Hall, was a student at the time, and his father, James Hall, lectured in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University. Their marriage could not be called happy. When the boy's father died in a crash in 1967, some even speculated that the accident was a suicide. The future artist then turned 2 years old. Soon, Elizabeth, who was only 23, moved her son to Connecticut. The child lived with his grandparents until his mother graduated from university and received her degree.

Richard's love for music was instilled in him by his mother. They often played together, mostly classical. At Darien High School, Richard formed his first group, the Vatican Commandos, with friends. At the senior box office, he joined new group Awol.

After graduation high school in 1983, the DJ entered the University of Connecticut, where he studied philosophy. He did not finish his studies for only a year - musical career turned out to be more important. At first, Melville Hall worked in a store in Darien, played in local bands such as Caeli Soul and Gin Train, and was a DJ in local nightclubs. It was as a disc jockey that he achieved his first successes.

In 1989, the young man moved to New York and signed a contract with Instinct Records. He released his first single "Mobility" in 1990, but the success was not too great. The composer presented his second single Go to the audience. The song quickly became a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom.

In 1995, Richard released his first full-length techno album, All In Wrong, which quickly sold out. In 1996, the punk rock album Animal Rights was written, and in 1997 the composer collected all his music, written by him for films. This is how the album I Like to Score was born. Moby's fame has gone beyond the US. The album with the singles Natural Blues and Porcelain sold 9 million copies worldwide.

From 1999 to 2004, Moby released several more successful albums. Some were written in collaboration with Jeff Rogers, MC Lite, Azure Ray. Every year the musician gave hundreds of concerts.

The next album Hotel went on sale in 2005. It was already a slightly different music, in which ambient mixed with pop-rock. The audience especially liked the track Lift me up. The composition was included in the album last. The artist even admitted that he went on about his own intuition - he had a dream where this song was performed live.

In 2007, the musician, together with friends, created rock band The little death. Their joint work was the disc Last Night (hip-hop, techno). In 2008, Melville Hall launched MobyGratis, a pioneering project that allows free use of music from Moby's film albums to all independent filmmakers.

In 2010, one of Mylene Farmer's CDs (orig. Bleu noir) went on sale. It contains music for some songs, incl. Bleu noir was written by Moby.

Between 2011 and 2013 two more albums were recorded (Destroyed, Innocent).

Did they really meet? The most unusual and forgotten star couples

Did they really meet? The most unusual and forgotten star couples

Natalie Portman and Moby A Harvard-educated actress and romantic musician, it was fate that brought Portman and Moby together. True, the artist admitted in an interview with the American Spin magazine a few years later: "Fans" star wars"hated... Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon and other star couples we forgot about

Moby's personal life

The musician lives in Los Angeles. He never married and still has no children.

In 2010, he opened his own vegetarian restaurant Little Pine.

In an interview with Psychology Today, the DJ admitted that at the age of nineteen he began using LSD to get rid of panic attacks. The musician speaks openly about his attitude to drugs. According to him, every adult has the right to do what he wants. The artist even appeared several times at conferences in a state of intoxication.

Now the DJ has become an avid vegetarian. In addition, he actively cooperates with foundations that promote the ethical treatment of animals (MoveOn, PETA).

He considers himself a true Christian. In one of the interviews, the singer said: “I really love Christ, his teaching is the highest wisdom I have ever encountered ...” He willingly discusses the topic of religion at conferences, in interviews, and on his own blog.

Childhood and the Moby family

The boy was born in New York. His parents gave him the name Richard Melville Hall. future star was only two years old when his father died in a car accident. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth, Moby's mother, went with him to the city of Denbury and settled in a house that was located near the city prison. They lived there for two years, and then moved to their grandparents in the city of Darien in a large house, which was located outside the city. The boy went to school there.

Moby's mom was open and very modern woman. She always encouraged her son's desire to make music. He studied guitar and piano. A decisive role in his career was played by a passion for the guitar. Already in adolescence the boy began to play in different teams. These are punk-speed-metal bands, and the anarchically annoying band Flipper.

The beginning of Moby's creative activity

In the eighties, the aspiring musician moved to New York. Since Moby was interested new music, he eventually came to the house scene. It is known that the world house culture began to develop widely in New York and Chicago. There are many talented, eccentric young people in New York.

In those years, early American electro, Garage and acid house appeared. In the late 1980s, Moby was actively DJing in New York clubs and creating solo electronic material.

The success of the musician Moby

Richard's first album was released in 1992. The musician can play almost everything: from light and airy techno to thrash metal. He has remixed the work of most famous contemporary musicians. His secret of success was that he always knew how to surprise people, possessing a talent that many people lack.

Popularity came to Moby when the song "Go" was released. He himself did not expect such an effect and such popularity. He sculpted the composition from fragments and pieces of music for the popular television series Twin Peaks. In addition, he handled the popular "James Bond Theme". After the musician became famous, almost nothing has changed in his life. Moby claims that his friends, and his apartment, and the restaurants where he eats, have remained the same. The only thing that has changed is the hotels he stays in, now they are fantastic hotels with luxurious rooms.

In the early nineties, it was thanks to Moby that electronic music made its way to wide audience both in America and the UK. He mixed punk rhythms, heavy guitars and fast disco beats. From other musicians, he was initially distinguished by the fact that he always created from a pure heart, without using an opportunistic approach.

Richard writes all his music in his home studio, but he mixes it in studios with analog equipment. Moby likes analog equipment used in electronic music, as it is given a "warm" tone. Home individual work musician is possible due to the fact that he plays on several musical instruments. It takes eight to ten hours to write music every day. He has not played in groups since the eighties, as he himself is able to replace an entire orchestra.

Once in an interview, Richard was asked what a musician should be able to do today in order to achieve successful career. He replied that it was the ability to write music for films, remixing, writing tracks, performing on stage and "DJing". Such a rather large list is the key to the success of every modern musician. This seemingly unprepossessing and bald guy never strained in order to achieve success.

Mobi-porcelain

Moby can safely be called a musician latest format. His path was not easy, but today the musician's albums are sold in millions, and hits fill the air of music channels and radio stations.

Moby's personal life

For more than twenty years, the musician has been a staunch vegan. Today he has his own restaurant.

Moby reads a lot. If he flies somewhere or is on the road, he often acquires an unpretentious science fiction. In normal times, he prefers the works of famous philosophers, reads historical works, books on theology and a lot of other "boring" literature. He was accustomed to such reading from the time when he studied at the university. Favorite work is "The Idiot" by Dostoyevsky.

Moby has never been against unofficial remixes of his songs. He believes that as soon as he shows a song to the world, it can no longer belong only to him, therefore, everyone has the right to remake any of his songs.

The musical instruments that Moby plays are guitar, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar, piano and others. However, he does not play any "difficult" instruments, such as violin or horn.

Moby today

The musician says that for him it has not been important for a long time commercial success his music, no matter how many CDs are sold. He just writes the music he likes, tries to keep it honest. If it turns out that someone else likes this music, he rejoices. Moby considers music to be a way of communication.

He does not have a goal to bring it to millions, it's good if even a few people understand it and love it. He himself prefers experimental and more underground music from the works of other musicians.

Journalists love Moby, because he knows how to give an interesting answer to any even stupid question. In communication, Richard is open and pleasant. No arrogance or excessive ambition is unusual for him. He is interesting, sincere and, which is a great rarity, free from dogma.

There are few people in the world who do not know the name of the American DJ Moby. This talented person known for iconic singles such as "Porcelain", "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?", "Extreme Ways" and "A$AP Forever". He also wrote music for a studio album and wrote soundtracks for cult cinematic works.

Childhood and youth

Richard Melville Hall (real name of the musician) was born in the USA, in the city of New York. However, Moby spent his childhood and youth in Darien, which is located in Connecticut.

It is noteworthy that Moby's parents are uncreative people. His mother is a medical doctor, and the head of the family, James, was a professor of chemistry. Do not exclude such an option that Moby's great ancestor was American writer Herman Melville, who delighted bookstore regulars with Moby Dick. Actually, that's why the musician got such a pseudonym.

When Richard was two years old, his dad died in a car accident, so the boy never learned what fatherly care and love are. The future performer of popular songs grew up and was brought up by his mother, who was a fairly progressive woman. After the death of her husband, the widow moved with her son to Denbury: an incomplete family settled in a house located near the city prison.

Life in Denbury did not suit Elizabeth, especially since she did not want the boy to “admire” the views high walls places of detention. So two years after the housewarming, the woman went with Moby to Darien and settled in the big house of her mother and father; there young Moby went to school.

From the biography of Richard, it is known that he was lucky with his mother, because she was a progressive and modern woman who encouraged her son's creative impulses. Elizabeth tried to instill in Moby a love of music: the boy enjoyed learning to play the guitar and piano. By the way, passion string instrument played a decisive role in the life of Moby, because he defined his goal and began to participate in various punk bands. The young man was a member of such groups as Vatican Commandos, Ultra Vivid Scene, etc.

Music

Richard had no doubt that he would connect his life with music forever. In the eighties, the young man moved to his homeland, to the city of opportunity New York. There, Melville began to learn the basics of new musical genres: the guy began to move away from the heavy sound in the punk genre and began to study electronic music created by disc jockeys in Chicago.

Moby became so interested in "house" that in the late 1980s the musician began performing in nightclubs and delighting the dancing crowd with new tracks. It is worth noting that Richard's first live solo performance was witnessed by his manager, Eric Hurl, who noted:

“The music was amazing, but the show was riddled with technical failures. It intrigued me a lot and impressed me in a strange way.”

In 1990-1991, Moby released his debut singles with the support of the Instinct label. It is noteworthy that a single called "Go", released in 1991, hit the top of the British charts. Perhaps this success was facilitated by samples from the then-famous detective series, which tells about the mysterious murder of a high school student.

Moby's song "Go"

Of course, Moby clearly declared himself. Therefore, in the future he was waiting for cooperation with popular performers and musical groups, including Brian Eno, Erasure, The B-52s and Orbital.

The first collection of songs by Richard Melville appeared in music shops already in 1992, and his single "I Feel It / Thousand", released a year later, immediately got into the Guinness Book of Records. Therefore, the contract with the famous label Mute Records was not a surprise, but rather a seminal event.

Moby's song "I Feel It"

In 1995, Moby pleased music lovers with an album called "Everything Is Wrong", where he declared himself as an original songwriter: Richard experimented, mixing different genres in one bottle, and, it would seem, the DJ tried to combine opposite things: electronics, pop music, rock and punk. Also on the disc, music lovers heard the sound of pseudo-industrial thrash, ambient trance, breakbeat and other styles. Not surprisingly, the popular magazine "Spin" awarded the collection "Everything Is Wrong" the title of album of the year.

Moby released his next album already in 1996, giving it the non-trivial name "Animal Rights". This time the fans enjoyed a musical triptych, which consisted of a mix of speedcore, punk and instrumental. Moby also rewarded some songs with his own vocals and favorite guitar sound. Despite the fact that, according to Melville, this album was the apogee of his work, sales showed the opposite. The collection did not gain popularity among the fans of the artist.

Against this background, the musician developed depression, which almost turned into a creative crisis. Also, Moby's life is overshadowed by another tragic event: his mother died of lung cancer.

Nevertheless, Moby did not give up, but continued to work hard: in 1997, Richard takes the stage name Voodoo Child and releases his third album, The End Of Everything, as well as a collection of remixes and soundtracks for films, I Like To Score". Fortunately, the third record of the songwriter was well sold out, thanks to which he set to work with renewed vigor.

Moby's song "Porcelain"

In 1999, the singer and musician breaks his laurels: his album called "Play" became almost the bestseller. The disc combines blues, gospel, techno and other genres. Critics call "Play" the first album that was successful with the general public. By the way, in this work, Moby also shared his views on life with fans. Inside the disc was a booklet on which Melville's essays were printed, telling about his views on vegetarianism, humanism and other things.

In total, there are 15 albums in Moby's discography, which are strikingly different from each other. Moby continues to delight the audience with experiments in music, for example, on the disc "Last Night", which was released in 2008, the sound of the nineties is clearly heard.

In 2009, a studio disc called “Wait for Me” was released, and the video for the song “Shot in the Back of the Head” was shot by himself, who presented the Twin Peaks series to the moviegoers. Also on Richard's track record are the albums Innocents (2013), These Systems Are Failing (2016), More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse (2017) and others.

Personal life

Moby is a versatile person, so his interlocutors appreciate him. In addition to writing songs, the man also participates in cinematic work, for example, he can be seen in the role of a cameo in the films Joe's Apartment (1996), Studio 30 (2009), The Mindy Project (2012), etc.

It is known from Richard's personal life that he is a vegetarian: the songwriter gave up animal products in the 1980s. Among other things, Moby is a philanthropist and Christian, but the musician does not identify himself with any religious denomination. As for politics, the singer is an adherent of the Democratic Party. In 2012, Moby voted for.

It is known from Melville's personal life that he never married and had no children, and his fleeting novels are hidden from the eyes of fans. However, news was leaked to the media that at one time Moby met with, but the couple broke up on the basis of jealousy. The girl admitted that they maintained friendly relations.

Moby now

Moby lives in Los Angeles and runs his own restaurant TeaNY. Released in 2018 new album musician called "Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hur".

The musician continues to release new videos and give concerts in major cities, and also pleases fans with photos in "Instagram".

Discography

• 1992 - Moby
• 1993 – Ambient
• 1995 - Everything Is Wrong
• 1996 - Animal Rights
• 1999 - Play
• 2002 – 18
• 2005 – Hotel
• 2008 - Last Night
• 2009 - Wait for Me
• 2011 - Destroyed
• 2013 – Innocents
• 2016 - Long Ambient 1: Calm. Sleep.
• 2016 – These Systems Are Failing
• 2017 – More Fast Songs About the Apocalypse
• 2018 – Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt