Moby

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Moby's Bio: Born in Harlem in 1965, Moby discovered his love of music at age nine when he began to learn classical guitar and music theory, followed by piano and drums. He was raised in Connecticut and lived in San Francisco for a time. Joining his first band "The Vatican Commandos" in his early teens, the band went on to release an EP of hardcore punk music and played a number of live shows. He got his first 4-track recorder in 1992 and began recording music in his basement, a move that would begin cementing his skills as a DJ. He eventually settled down in NYC and signed his first recording contract in 1989 with Instinct Records, which at the time didn't have a logo, name or even an office, in 1989. He had played with a couple of different bands over the years, from his start with The Vatican Commandos to AWOL, Caeli Seoul and Gin Train, and can even be seen playing guitar for Ultra Vivid Scene's "Mercy Seat" video from the late 1980's.

Through his contract with Instinct he released his first single, "Mobility," but made his first major breakthrough with his second single "Go," which used a portion of the theme to "Twin Peaks" and reached the UK top ten in 1991. He remixed songs from B-52's, The Prodigy, Orbital, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and even Michael Jackson during 1991-92, and ventured out on tour with The Prodigy, Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva.

Moby signed with Mute Records in 1993, releasing the EP "Move" which earned him a second appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops TV show and again set out on tour, this time with Orbital and Aphex Twin. 1995 saw Moby's full-length album, "Everything Is Wrong" receive significant critical praise but limited commercial success, and he took the headliner spot on the second stage at Lollapalooza. He followed this up with a 1996 remix release of "Everything Is Wrong - Mixed and Remixed," a two-disc set. Because electronic music was dismissed by many traditional media outlets, Moby became disillusioned with the lack of feedback and released "Animal Rights" in 1996, a punk rock album which included a cover of Mission to Burma's "That's When I Reach for My Revolver." Unfortunately, "Animal Rights" did more to damage Moby's career than anything else, with existing fans questioning why he would release something so different from the electronica they loved him for, and music media being uninterested because he was an "electronic artist." In 1996 he released "I Like to Score," a collection of his music that had been used in movies, including his remix of "The James Bond Theme" used in "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Finally, in 1999, Moby released the album that would make his career and cement him as one of the greatest artists of our generation. Called "Play," the album went on to sell more than 10 million copies worldwide within the next year. Moby decided to set a new trend in music when he licensed the whole album, 18 tracks in its entirety, for use in international films, advertisements and TV shows, as well as independent films and non-profit groups. His follow-up album to "Play" called "18" was released in 2002 and went either Platinum or Gold in over 30 countries.

After cementing his fan base and breaking countless records for beats, sales and licensing, Moby has continued to release successful albums over the years, releasing more than two dozen studio, compilation and remix albums of his own music, as well as a number of free, limited edition releases and movie scores. He has collaborated with some of the most recognizable names in the music industry, from Britney Spears and Guns N' Roses to Public Enemy and New Order. He also does significant collaborative work on tours and at fundraisers, performing with everyone from Lou Reed to Bono and Michael Stipe.

Moby is active in a variety of advocacy efforts, working with political groups like MoveOn and charity and humanitarian groups like The Humane Society. He created the website MobyGratis.com, which licenses film music for free for non-profit and independent films, and has options for licensing to for-profit films with proceeds donated to The Humane Society. He is an active writer both of essays, which are often included in liner notes or the inlay card on his albums, and on his own blog. He released his first book, "Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety (Thinking Twice About the Meat We Eat)" in 2010, and released a book of photography called "Destroyed" to coincide with the release of the album of the same name in 2011. Writing was never too much of a stretch for this multi-talented artist when you consider that his nickname and stage name of "Moby" came, along with his middle name (Melville), from "Moby Dick" author Herman Melville, who is one of his ancestors. … Read more