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Moby

Born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in 1965, Richard Melville Hall has since become one of the most successful musicians in the United States in the field of electronic music, though he began his musical career as a teenager in a hardcore punk band entitled the Vatican Commandos. After the breakup of the Vatican Commandos he began to experiment with electronic music, which he fell in love with it after realizing it could be just as avant-garde and rebellious as punk rock. His stage name Moby was inspired by the 1851 Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick - the author is a distant relative of Moby’s.

Moby released two full-length albums and two limited edition vinyl recordings between 1985 and 1994 on independent label Instinct Records, while working full time as a house disc jockey in clubs around New York. His career took off with the release of his third album Everything is Wrong on Mute Records in 1995; it was the first of his albums to receive critical appraise, based on the popularity of tracks like "Every Time You Touch Me" and "Feeling So Real". He released his second major album Animal Rights a year later in 1996; the album’s unconventional juxtaposition of punk rock with ambient techno proved unpopular, and his later releases have tended to gravitate toward his earlier sound.

He released his most successful album, Play, in 1999. Play is unique in how it was marketed; all of its tracks have been commercially licensed, meaning that all the songs from the album have appeared in some other form of media such as television commercials or movies. The album was a hit, eventually selling over 2 million copies in the United States alone. His next album, 2002’s 18, was similarly successful, riding on the momentum generated by singles like "We Are All Made of Stars", "In This World", and "Extreme Ways". During this period Moby embarked on a number of nationwide tours, accompanied by such acts as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Prodigy.

Though he first made his humble beginnings as a DJ over twenty years ago, Moby’s career has continued well into the present day. After releasing his fourth major album Hotel in 2005 ("Lift Me Up", "Spiders") he has returned to the forefront of the music scene again in 2008 to release his most recent album Last Night. The album has so far produced three singles ("Alice", "Disco Lies", "Everyday It’s 1989") and contributed to the soundtrack for the 2008 monster movie Cloverfield.

From Discogs:

Born: September 11, 1965, New York, NY, United States.One of electronic music's most visible and talked-about figures, Moby's career comprises many years of work and many musical twists and turns. His career stretches all the way back to early rave and acid-house releases in the late 80s and early 90s as U.H.F. and Voodoo Child, through to his much loved/hated R&B/blues/pop/techno sample cut-ups of today.His most notable tracks from his early days include "Next Is The E", "Everytime You Touch Me" and "Into The Blue", and the classic "Go", as well as his early albums "Ambient" and "Early Underground". A brief outing into more rock-oriented territory came with 1996's "Animal Rights", followed by "I Like To Score" in 1997, highlighting his past movie score contributions (most notably a remix of the "James Bond Theme").In 1999 and 2000, Moby found unprecedented pop success with the album "Play" and the slew of singles and radio tracks that came from it ("Honey", "Run On", "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?", "Natural Blues", "Porcelain", "Southside", and more). Among other things, his appearance as a DJ in the foyer of the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards (wearing a gold suit and playing two golden copies of "Play") led many people to decry him as a sellout. Nonetheless, his follow-up album "18" tinkered very little with the "Play" sound and still received a mostly positive reception in 2002.Besides the many faces of his music, Moby also gathers controversy for his outspoken religious, dietary and animal rights views, as well as persistent rumors that his live shows are mostly pre-recorded. Every Moby release from the mid-90s onward has borne the text "Animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on. Thanks to Christ."

From Lastfm:

Moby is an American electronic musician and is also the name of his live band. Born Richard Melville Hall on September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York. Moved to Darien, Connecticut at the age of two.

He has also released music under the names Voodoo Child, Barracuda, U.H.F., The Brotherhood, DJ Cake, Lopez, On the Rim of the Wheel a Nail, and Brainstorm/Mindstorm.

Moby plays keyboards, guitar and bass guitar, and expresses mild irritation at the assumption that everything on his newer albums are samples. He took his performing name from the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, who is his great-great-granduncle.

Early years

Moby used to be in a punk band called the Vatican Commandos, which was formed in 1980, but abandoned punk in 1989 for electronic music. He realized his music tastes and growth were going in a different direction than his previous band's.

His first album "The Story So Far (aka Moby)" featured the single "Go", which gained popularity in many discos, and earned a spot on the UK charts. The song is so popular that Moby still plays "Go" regularly in his sets. "Go" is a progressive track using the string line from "Laura Palmer's Theme" from the TV drama Twin Peaks.

1994-1998

His first album for the UK based MUTE Records was Everything Is Wrong (which had US distribution via Elektra) , which earned early critical praise and minor commercial success. He followed that up with a hard rock/electronic album called Animal Rights in 1996. In 1997, he released I Like to Score, a collection of music included in movies. Among those tracks was an updated version of the James Bond theme used for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. However, both Animal Rights and I Like to Score had only limited success and Moby and Elektra parted company however he remained signed to MUTE.

1999-2004

After a decade's worth of music, Moby's breakthrough album was 1999's Play. Mainstream reviewers raved about his talents on the album (released on V2 Records) though some early fans were let down. The album has 18 tracks and was the first album in history to have all of its tracks commercially licensed: "Porcelain," for instance, appeared on TV commercials for Bailey's Irish Cream, Hong Kong's PCCW and Nordstrom, and Volkswagen's MKIV Jetta; "Find My Baby" was on a commercial for American Express featuring golfer Tiger Woods. The album's tracks eventually were accepted in various radio formats, but because of Play's extensive licensing, the album could have been financially successful even without radio play. In addition to fame garnered through its licensing, Play is also notable for its extensive sampling of old blues recordings collected by Alan Lomax. In a 2005 posting on his web site, Moby theorized that his eagerness to license his music is a result of "growing up in poverty."

In 2001, Moby founded the Area:One Festival. It was a popular touring rock festival that featured an eclectic range of musical genres. A second tour was organized for the following year.

In 2001 Moby also earned the ire of Eminem after calling his music misogynistic and homophobic; Eminem later satirized Moby (among others) in "Without Me," calling him a "fag" and questioning his relevance with the claim "Nobody listens to techno." Moby replied that he hadn't played techno since 1992. The two were in a confrontation at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, though Moby expresses respect for Eminem as an artist.

In 2002, Moby briefly had a television show on MTV, Señor Moby's House of Music, which focused mostly on more obscure electronic music. Also in 2002, Moby released 18, an album that had 18 tracks. The most popular song on the album was "We Are All Made of Stars". Moby says he wrote "We Are All Made of Stars" because of the September 11th Terrorist Attacks, which happened on his birthday.

2005

In 2005 Moby released "Lift Me Up", a single from his album Hotel, which featured, in addition to numerous remixes, UK company Digimpro's software. The program allows users to remix the song - using any or all of the samples included?and save it as an MP3 file. Thus unlimited, personalized versions of the title track were possible. Digimpro had previously seen exposure with group Erasure's single "Breathe," allowing users the same ability. Instead of his usual usage of samples, all of the vocals and instruments on "Hotel" were performed live in the studio by Moby and vocalist Laura Dawn, who is the Cultural Director of MoveOn.org.

For certain dates on Moby's 2005 European tour, Liveherenow provided concert goers with CDs of the show 10 minutes after the show finished. Other Mute Records artists like Erasure and Client have previously used this company for similar reasons.

2006

Moby has recently scored the soundtrack for Richard Kelly's upcoming movie 'The Southland Tales'. Whilst he is generally against composing music for films, he was a huge fan of Kelly's previous film 'Donnie Darko' and could not resist the offer the director gave him.

ITV in the United Kingdom use Moby's song "Lift Me Up" for their coverage of Formula One racing by using the song as the intro. and also snippets to segues for interviews and advertisements.

Also, Moby had one of his older songs used in a Original HBO series, The Sopranos. This song, "When its Cold I'd like to Die" was used in the last scene in which Tony was in his dream state.

Besides music

Moby is a vegan, non-denominational Christian and self-proclaimed "simpleton" (for his often sincere and idealistic political assessments).

Moby lives in New York City. Until recently he co-owned a small restaurant and coffee shop called TeaNY, where he occasionally waited tables. He also organized the Little Idiot Collective, a group of artists that also includes cartoonist and musician James Kochalka. He's a huge fan of the TV series "The Simpsons".

Activism

Moby is a well known advocate for a variety of progressive causes, working with MoveOn.org, and PETA, among others. He created MoveOn Voter Fund's "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest along with singer Laura Dawn and MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser.

He also actively engages in nonpartisan activism. He has performed benefit concerts for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, promoting music therapy. Moby also serves on the Board of Directors of Amend.org, a nonprofit that implements injury prevention programs in Africa.

He is an advocate of network neutrality and he testified before the US House committee debating the issue in 2006.

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From Wikipedia:

Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), better known by his stage name Moby, is an American DJ, singer-songwriter, and musician.

He sings and plays keyboard, guitar, bass guitar and drums. Moby became a successful artist on the ambient electronica scene, and achieved eight top 40 singles in the UK during the 1990s. In 1999 he released the album Play, a mix of melancholic chill-out, ambient music, and upbeat electronica, that was critically acclaimed and produced an impressive eight hit singles (including his most popular songs "Porcelain", "Natural Blues" and "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?"). Play became a commercial and cultural phenomenon, selling over 10 million copies worldwide (the best-selling electronica album ever) and with its eighteen songs receiving an unprecedented licensing in films, television and commercial advertisements.

His follow-up album, 18 (2002) was also successful, receiving positive to mixed response. His next offer, the mostly upbeat Hotel (2005) received lukewarm reviews and poor sales in general. Moby released his most recent albums, Last Night (2008) and Wait for Me (2009), finding good reviews and moderate sales. AllMusic considers Moby "one of the most important dance music figures of the early '90s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in the UK and in America".