September 24, 2016 • 44 mins
20 years ago, Gregor lent some CDs to a musician friend. The CDs helped make him a famous rockstar. Now, Gregor would like some recognition. But mostly, he wants his CDs back.
Credits
Heavyweight is hosted and produced by Jonathan Goldstein, along with Wendy Dorr, Chris Neary, and Kalila Holt.
Editing by Alex Blumberg & Peter Clowney.
Special thanks to Emily Condon, Jackie Cohen, Paul Tough, Stevie Lane, Michelle Harris, Dimitri Erlich, Sean Cole and Jorge Just.
The show was mixed by Haley Shaw.
Music for this episode by Christine Fellows, with additional music by Talk-star, The Eastern Watershed Klezmer Quartet, Hew Time, Michael Smith, Farnell Newton, and Haley Shaw, who also did our ad music. Our theme song is by The Weakerthans courtesy of Epitaph Records.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Bad time.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I was just just stepping out.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I was just you enjoy music, right, Yeah. This week's
show kind of deals with music, and it got me thinking.
I have a confession to make. You know how, sometimes
like you have dinner parties and they're great. I wanted
to say, sometimes how you sometimes play music? Yeah, sometimes
I'm a little hesitant to come over for dinner.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
You're always hesitant to come over for dinner.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, it's not including Mary.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Clods forty fifth birthday.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Do you remember that?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I do you know that Bumballeo song? I can't find
my Gypsy King CD because your husband hit it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
It's killing me.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Killing everybody. The reason sometimes I have some difficulty with
my digestion these dinner parties is it's the Bumballeo song.
It's the Gypsy Kings. Oh this is great. You know
what bumbalao? Bumbalaya translates as what wobble wobble? All right,
we'll speak to you one thing before we go. Okay,
I'm going to say bumbalao and you say bombalaya.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I do it, and then I.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Bomb.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
From Gimblet Media, I'm Jonathan Goldstein and this is Heavyweight.
Today's episode Gregor, this.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Guy's gonna ram you from behind because you're going eleven
miles to left, although you usually don't do it from
the right line. Okay, let's not give kill. Do you
have a driver's license?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
This is Gregor and me on our way to lunch,
and what you're hearing is typical. When I'm driving, Gregor
comments on my speed. When I eat, he comments on
my table manners, and when I eat yogurt, he comments
on the way I lick the inside lid, calling it
both letchrous and unmanly. Some might say that Gregor is
overly critical, possibly even prickly, but I would not. I
(02:06):
love Gregor for many reasons. His loyalty, his generosity, his
being the kind of person will pick you up at
the airport at four in the morning without even complaining.
But it's perhaps his courage to say the things that
were all not exactly thinking, but maybe thinking about thinking,
that is most thrilling. And so when he showed up
(02:28):
at my office mocking himself instead of me and speaking
in biblical parables, I was concerned.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Was it the Pharaoh and the Joseph story who said
the seven lean years and seven fat years? Yeah? I
had this insight today that the fat years are about
to end.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Would these have been the fat years?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
That's what I realized literally this morning. I woke up
and I was like, wait, those were the fat years?
You know, in every conceivable way, financially, stability, prestige, all
the job stuff, and like creative accomplishment stuff. I just
feel like it's like going up and smoking on watching
it go up and smoke.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Gregor is forty eight years old and by profession he
makes marketing videos for a cleaning product usually found in
the bathroom. I can't tell you the name of this
product for fear Gregor will lose his job. In other words,
he's not the filmo tour he dreamt of being back
in his college days, underlining back issues of Kye to Cinema.
(03:23):
On top of that, he says that over the past
few years he's seen his career slowly sucked downward. Not
unlike oh, I don't know, the spiraling waters of a
sink unclogged by a chemical drain opener designed to flush
pipes and attack clogs at their worst.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
What's that children's game where everyone goes around the chairs
musical chairs, chairs, and everyone sits down and you're like, oh,
that friend of mine became a CEO. These four friends
are like EVP SVP senior whatever at their things. That
friend of mine wound up sitting in the president of
Estonia's chair, and then you're like the music stops and
(04:00):
you're left standing.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I've heard him reel off this list before, and Gregor
fully admits it. The success of anyone he knows, no
matter how thin, his connection to them, feels like a
reflection of his own shortcomings, including the ascension of his
elementary school's librarian son, who is now the president of Estonia.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
The point of the story is where's my presidency of
my Estonia? My circumstances I was, I was like, oh
things will you know, about to break through, about to change?
And now, like you could say, well, this is just
to setback, it's you know whatever, Soon your ship's going
to come in. But it's just not you know, I mean,
that's just the simple truth, the uncomfortable truth.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Of all Gregor's stories about the success of his acquaintances
and friends, there's one story that he returns to most,
and not only is it the greatest success story of
them all, it's the one that touched his life the
most intimately. The story all begins about twenty years ago
in Manhattan, when Gregor was living in a small apartment
in Chinatown with his older brother Dimitri. One night, they
(05:06):
had a friend of theirs over for dinner, a techno
musician friend.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
He was really poor at the time. He was living
in like I think in like a basement in a
warehouse or something, for forty dollars a month. He was
an articulate smart guy, still an articular smart guy, but
he's sort of an unlikely rock star in that his
hair had mostly fallen out even when we were still
in our twenties. But I watched his ascent. He played
the bigger and bigger crowds during this techno kind of stuff.
(05:31):
And then eventually he got a record contract, and I
at the time got hold of a very obscure set
of CDs which were field hollers Oooh.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Trouble So I.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Thought it was really interesting stuff. I loaned him this
box set of CDs Oooh Lone Trouble. So he then
sampled it very heavily trouble God and created a record
with got him very rich and very famous.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
This guy you're speaking of, This guy's Moby Trouble, Moby
bald headed, bespectacled, castle dwelling, multi million records selling Moby.
(06:30):
But back then he was just Gregor's pal who spent
weekends at Gregor's family's place and attended family birthday parties too.
In bars and during long car rides, Gregor and Moby
had long, earnest conversations about God and the things they believed.
They were living their twenties together, and those CDs Gregor
lent Moby. The box set Sounds of the South was
(06:52):
recorded by the ethno musicologist Alan Lomax. Beginning in the
nineteen thirties. Lomax and his father John made the thousands
of field recordings, mostly in the American South. These recordings
are among the most important in American music, preserving dozens
of African American songs from the early years of the
twentieth century.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Rea Some Time, Better, No Ala Sometime.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Another hit on Moby's album is called Honey. It makes
use of the song sometimes sung by Bessie Smith Jones.
Jones was taught these songs by her grandfather, a former
slave born in Africa. This is Moby's version, So is
everybody feeling like I've here elected to play for you
(07:40):
the live version of the song with all of its
foot stomping and audience cheering. It's how I imagine Gregor
hears it echoing in his head during those sleepless nights
when his kishkas are slowly being corroded by battery acid.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Sometime when I discovered this CD set, I was like
an evangelist. I was like, this is amazing. You got
to check this out. He was over the house and
I was like, you got to take this home. This
amazing stuff. This is the best CD I've heard. You know,
I don't know how long I've been listening to NonStop rotation.
I love the CD. So it wasn't just laying in
a pile. And he happened to put it in his
bag and walk out the door. I said, I sold
(08:15):
him on it.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
And Moby makes use of several Lomax recordings on his
album Play, which went multi platinum. Play eventually became one
of the most commercially licensed albums ever recorded. At the time,
the songs were used to promote everything from luxury cars
(08:39):
to credit cards, and before Play, according to Rolling Stone Magazine,
Moby was quote bumbling around New York as it has been,
and then was there an intermediary step before that, and
then hearing it on the CD where he said, hey,
by the way, thanks.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
No, I said, this is amazing thing. Next thing I
heard it's on the radio and I said, hey, can
I get that box setback? And then years of not
being friends.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And according to Gregor, that was all he wanted to
get his CDs back. He was looking for neither riches
nor credit, just the CDs, which he claims were only alone.
And so this is how it went. He began leaving
Moby voice messages by Gregor's count about a dozen that
all went unanswered. Then, in a final act of desperation,
(09:26):
Gregor penned a song called Moby give Me Back my CDs,
which he sang into Moby's answering machine with accompanying karaoke
music to the tune of Brian Adams Heaven. After much cajoling,
Gregor dug up his lyrics, which I will now perform
for you, Moby give me back my CDs, the recordings
(09:50):
from the Field, the Alan Lomax box set CDs. I
think there were seven. Those discs are all that I need,
the ones I gave you from my house. I think
you'll be sure to see there were seven and that message,
(10:13):
Gregor says, was met with over a decade of silence.
Did he ever explain, like, did he just ever come
out and tell you honestly what became of those CDs?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
No? I think he was busy, like playing, like, you know,
a concert to ninety thousand people in Raikovic and drinking
champagne out of a prostitute shoe. Couldn't be bothered. Obviously,
I put an exaggerated value on the CDs. I'm sure
he could have sampled anything, and he had a plenty
big career before that and after that. I mean, I'm
not insane, but it was more that displaced feeling of
(10:47):
like I had this thing go off and bloom without me.
I'll tell you an interesting detail in that. Yeah, whenever
mobi music comes on, I can't listen to it.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But do you think if you get it back you
won't feel that way.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I feel like I could work it through like therapy,
where I could then listen to the music again. You know,
there's a sense of what.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
About my you know, where's my gold album?
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Gregor has theories about why nothing ever happened for him
and they revolve around an aspect of his personality, an
aspect he refers to as a lack of affability.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Like a lot of times I'll say something completely earnestly
mm hmm, like past the water, and they're like, are
you being sarcastic? Like that happened to me all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
How could you ask for the water sarcastically?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
I come across as being sarcastic when I'm not.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So it's almost like a handicap of It's.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
A huge handicap. I think it's fundamentally, as I understand
my own life, that is my cross to bear, that's
what's wrecked my life.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well, I think you would. Even like you told me
that story about where you were in the conference room
at work, They're like compl menting you on your new
glasses or something and saying, hey, what does your wife
think of those glasses? And you were like, how the
fuck do I know? I why don't ask my wife
to find out?
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Do you remember? Yeah? I don't remember. I mean so
they said like, what is your wife think of that?
I was like, how do I know? Ask my wife?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Recently, Gregor and Moby have found themselves back in touch,
though in the most tangential, impersonal way possible through group
emails and texts. Gregor's older brother, Dimitri, remained friends with
Moby over the years, and Dmitri recently had a baby,
so he loops in Moby, Gregor and one other old
friend on updates. This has evolved into a small group
(12:44):
of friends exchanging witticisms and fun facts like did you
know that the fatty flesh around the elbow is called
a wenus? So while the new group email friendship isn't
the same as the old close one, it's still an
open door. And so I couldn't help asking the question,
now that that door has swung open again, do you
(13:05):
see this as an opportunity to ask for those CDs
once again?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I was thinking about it, were you, just because it's
kind of a little symbolic of what I don't even
have a CD player anymore, right, But I was just thinking,
for talismonic purposes, it would be interesting to.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Have them back say more about that.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
I think that it might soothe me.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Do you really think it would.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
I'll actually give you the clarity which just came to me. Now, okay,
it's not Instead of the money and the fame and
all that stuff. What it is is tangible evidence. Understand
you did this, you exist, you did it, you pulled
it off.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You want to be able to say, see these CDs
on the shelf.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
That's the ones that I gave to mommy, because for me,
this would just be a version of proof.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Wanting the CDs you lent someone decades ago and expecting
them back is of course insanity, but insanity's repeated often enough,
especially between friends, can begin to feel pacifying, lulling, even.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Excuse me, in.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
A way, you just want your due.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Do you think you can articulate that in a way
that would make it understandable to him?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Do you think I'm pretty confident I can't, because he's
still pretty sensitive.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Okay, pretty sensitive, pretty sensitive. Like the time Moby seemed
to bristle when Gregor emailed him about something totally innocuous,
a condolence for the death of Moby's friend David Bowie.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You know, I said some witty thing about David Bowie dying,
he wrote, like texted back, like the picture of him
and David Bowie in the cover of entertainment.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Let's back up for a moment. What was the witty
thing you said about David Bowie's death.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
You know, like, good night, funny man, What does that
even mean? That's usually what I say when people die.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
If this is a sampling of the hot takes Gregor
has in store, I fear that this newly opened door
between Moby and Gregor might not remain open forever. I
also knew that if he has any hope of ever
getting back those CDs, he'll need a middleman or interlocutor
or interlocutor. So, perhaps against my better judgment, I allow
(15:25):
myself to be swept up by the moment. I just
don't know if this is going to lead to anything
but heartbreak. But why don't we go after the CDs?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
All right?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And with that ringing call to arms, my path was
set and the mission begun. Say I'm Moby, Like, how
would you ask, Hey.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Moby, can I have back those CDs? I've never understood
any approach other than a direct approach, So that's what
I would do.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
After the break the Hollywood Hills, a surprise encounter with
Rue Paul and maybe be Moby. Maybe the airline tickets
were purchased, the hotel was booked, but a couple of
days before we were set to leave for La. I
(16:16):
got nervous if Gregor already was in a bad place,
could my meddling possibly make things worse? Hello, hey Anica. Yeah,
I decided to reach out to the person who knows
Gregor best, his wife, Annika. So do you know about
this this little project that your husband and I are undertaking?
Speaker 6 (16:40):
So I think that the is a strategy to like
ambush Moby and try and get him to give back
the CDs that he went Gregor thirty years ago or
however long it was ago. Is that true?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You make it sound like such a classy operation. Yeah.
Has Gregor brought this issue up to you before this
whole Alan Lomack CD issue?
Speaker 6 (17:05):
So I met him on November eleventh, two thousand, Yeah,
and it came up pretty early in our relationship.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
So he yeah, like first date conversation, It was.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
Definitely early on. It's very hard for him to let
stuff go. And like, even like early on our relationship,
we went to Spain together and we bought a bottle
of olive oil in some town or something and we
left it by accident in the rental car and it
still bothers him.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Do you know, I think I actually know that Olive
Oil story.
Speaker 6 (17:45):
Oh yeah, yeah, there is something that is in his
character that is very much like the Larry David character,
where it's like, you know, like obsessing about a very
small point. But you know, he's like a very sensitive person.
So it's just part of who he is and part
(18:06):
of his wonderful package.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Does this undertaking have your blessing or do you think
it's foolhardy?
Speaker 6 (18:15):
I don't. Sometimes I worry about Gregor's feelings because he
is very hurt, very easily, and I don't know if
Moby is really that sensitive to his feelings.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I Gregor flew in from San Francisco, and I was
there to greet him at the Bob Hope International Airport
in Burbank.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So this is the dream factory I've heard about.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
It's beautiful here. Even the underground parking lots smell like
suentan lotion. We have four hours before our appointment with Moby,
so we set off in our economy sized Carrio or
similar to experience everything LA has to offer. Are you excited, Yeah,
(19:05):
you don't sound excited.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
No, I'm full of anxiety. And let me tell you,
I feel an increasing sense of dread about the futility
of this undertaking.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
You're gonna get those CDs back my friend.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Okay, whatever you say in.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
A plastic bag, which he'll supply.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
You're gonna negotiate this like managing at which time of
my clients choosing the one plastic bag recycled acceptable plus
one coupon good for any flavor from basket in Robin's
ice cream or any substant that too.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
With just three hours and fifty nine minutes to go,
things were off to a rollicking start. It's like not moving.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
There's always traffic in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Look at the traffic. Are we gonna make it for movies?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Yeah, we're gonna be stuck in horrible traffic. We have
until two No, we haven'tntil Oh really, we'll never make it.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Oh look there's the big Hollywood sign.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Wow, what a sight.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Huh. You used to say Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Land Actually before that it was called hollywood Landville. Is
that true? Do you want Mexican food? Do you ever
eat Mexican food?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I love Mexican food.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
And to make you turn yeah, go go go. This
is like a four lane ewie, it's six really, go
go go go.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
When you knew to someone before they were famous, and
you treat them like someone who's not famous. Sometimes they
don't like that. Sometimes they're used to the difference and
the rock star treatment from everyone.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Can you try to treat them with a little more difference.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
That's what I'm gonna try to But the mask always slips.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Insofar as me coming here with you, how do you
feel about me as an interlocutor?
Speaker 4 (20:58):
I'm actually full of dread, mostly because of that. What
is that supposed to me? Because I recognize that I
need an interlocutor. I did say that, and I do
believe it. I think that you're going to be allowsy interlocutor.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
What do you think I'm gonna embarrass you in front
of your famous friends?
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yes, that's what you're afraid of.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
No, But seriously, you think I'm gonna blow this?
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I just feel like you don't get the vibe of
what it's like when you're in like a guy's house
and you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Be like, say, nice toilets, What are these made of?
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Porcelain? Ay? I'm gonna be like Johnny, please, I need
to be like no, I don't know what they're made up.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
That is to me, the final irity of this whole
thing that you're concerned that I'm gonna embarrass you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
I don't want you to trip me up in my game,
my stride, my cadence.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
And what is it gonna be a part of your
game here to.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Try and relax and be myself. But I'm gonna be
made self conscious when you're like, do you validate parking here?
And I just need you to validate.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
God, this is so pretty? What a pretty place to live?
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Well, you're selling off CDs you can live in a
place like this.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Worried about our being tardy, I decided to run down
the clock doing laps around Moby's very pretty.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Block, little tiny houses.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
I keep going straight. This is really pretty nice view
of the mountains.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
This is his house right here where all right here?
I want to drive by it, this house right there
at the corner.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
We were passing the gates of his home over and
over when a half hour before our appointed meeting.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
That's movie right there, is it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh Jesus, Moby emerges through the gates to get his newspaper.
Excited about seeing an honest to goodness famous person. I
instinctively slowed to a crawl and pulled over beside him
go say hi.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
No, no, come on, let him go to keep going.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
He just turned around.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
He didn't see any Yes, he did.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
He turned around and we made eye contact, and like,
I slid right up to him, and he turned around
and he seemed scared.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Don't slide up to
be when they're going to get their pretty That's true.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
I really did slide up to him.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, he did, like a creep. You're going to go
another pass through when he comes up for his milk.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
We walk off our nerves in a nearby park, where
Gregor dispenses life wisdom to a passing toddler.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Enjoy it, kid, the best it's going to be for
the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Who says things like that to a Child's happy?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
In love? His shirt said love. He's holding a little
girls at.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Outside Moby's door. We do some last minute strategizing.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Am I supposed to be the good cop or the
bad cop? I can't remember.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Well, I guess you were supposed to be the bad cop.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
No, I'm the bad cop. You're the good cop. I
usually play the bad cop.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
So fine, you're the bad cop.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
It's twelve to fifty seven. It's not really one yet.
Hall wait oh hello, Hi, I'm sorry, we're early. It's
twelve fifty seven. It's three minutes too early.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Moby's personal assistant, a terrifyingly fit woman in jeans and
T shirt, leads us towards Moby's home. By rockstar standards,
it's pretty modest.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Hello, Hello, Hi, Sharman, mos been far too long? Should
I take shoes off? Hi? I am Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Were led into a sunken foyer where a couple of
assistants are gathering equipment and making themselves scarce. Standing at
the top of the stairs looking not unlike a bald
headed gray hoodie. Norma Desmond is Moby. Gregor and he
do not hug or even shake hands. They don't even wave.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
It's been far too long, my friend where he's staying, and.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Gregor drops his bag and has a LOOXI.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Beautiful location, your beautiful assistance. Everything beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
He's even brought along a thoughtful gift, something to cater
to Moby's strict veganism and clean, healthy lifestyle. Fancy all
natural lemonades.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Something disgusting with turmeric? Whoa something awful with probiotic cayenne peppers,
something horrifying with lemons.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
To our part, dismay. Moby takes the beverages and places
them in the fridge. Gregor and I are never to
see those beverages again. As we settle in and I
set up our recording gear, Gregor notices a pile of
video equipment.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Why do you have two C three hundred, sir?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Remember that slippery mask? Gregor mentioned the one hiding is
rough Edges ten seconds in and it was already a slippin'.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Why am I not involved that produce films all the time?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I can help you to which Moby, rather than saying
he's worked with David Lynch and David la Chappelle and
probably all set on that front, instead says, I mean you.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Live in San Francisco. Yeah, but I'm here all the time,
not literally in your living room, in your kitchen, though
I could be more often.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Gregor can't help treating Moby like a nephew making his
first student film. That is, Gregor's treating Moby the way
he treats me. And this of course is concerning.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
First of all, before we even get that far, how would.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
You At this point, Moby has mostly no idea why
we're here. I made an appointment with his assistant, but
it was left vague. So Moby takes the direct approach.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So what are you guys doing?
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Well? This is an excellent question. Well, let's begin at
the beginning, around the time contemporaneous with your recent autobiography,
the mid nineties two thousands, and.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Like, after all of his braggadocio about how he was
going to walk in there and demand the CDs back,
Gregor's nervous being uncharacteristically Mealy mouthed, unable to explain the
basics of our mission.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
And so this conversation became down this kind of alleyway
of that facet of like I was kind of like,
what is me?
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Moby had limited time, so at the risk of embarrassing
Gregor in front of his famous friend, I decided to
step in and explain. So, can I tell my story
of you coming to last time I saw Gregor? He
came to visit me at work.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
And.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
You were kind of in this mood where you or
feeling like maybe those things that you were hopeful about
achieving were not going to be happening. And I think
you were in well. Gregor looks on skeptically. I try
to explain to Moby Gregor's midlife malaise how everyone was
passing him by. Can you relate to the feeling of like,
(27:19):
have you ever, at different points in your life, felt
like like surpassed by your friends or you know what
I mean? Oh?
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah, Like there's always going to be someone doing so
much better than you that if you spend the time
to look at it, you're going to feel bad about yourself.
Like my nemesis, well, according to him for a while,
was eminem So if he was my nemesis, I was
just being beaten publicly and badly because he was always
more successful, always selling more records, always more popular, always cooler,
(27:51):
and so depends on who I was comparing myself to.
Over time, like other people start selling more records, getting
better reviews, you start selling fewer tickets. And then as
the two thousands progressed, my career waned and other people's escalated,
you know, Like I would go to visit my record
(28:12):
company and they'd have my picture behind the receptionist desk,
and then one day I show up and it's Jack
White's picture behind the reception System'm like.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Whoa what? Yeah, I mean I think the only way
to hear that, honestly is in the split screen between
totally head nodding one hundred percent agree and totally like
easy for you to say, because you're looking down from
the mountain, looking up, you're like, fucking knock that guy
off the mountain because all I need is mind billion
dollars down I looked.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But really, the kick in the teeth of fame is
that if you don't have it, you beat yourself up
that you don't have it, and if you do have it,
you're miserable and you kill yourself. Literally, the most depressed
I've ever been in my entire life was the height
of my professional success. And I remember this one moment
so clearly. I was at an MTV Awards in Barcelona,
(29:03):
and there's this hotel called the Arts Hotel in Barcelona,
and it's so beautiful and at the tippity top of
the hotel they have four three bedroom apartments and I
was in one, P Diddy was in one, Jon bon
Jovi was in one, and Madonna was in one. And
so you'd take like one elevator to get to a
certain floor, then another elevator to another floor, and then
(29:24):
a security guard would wave you through up to our
hallowed floor. And the first night I was there, I
invited some people over to like look at the view
and drink, and I kept drinking by myself, and I
got more and more despondent, and I literally, at the
end of the evening, before going to bed, was walking
around this beautiful, insane apartment crying, thinking about how I
(29:45):
could get out the window to kill myself. And the
next day I won an MTV award. So it's like, professionally,
things couldn't have been better.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
The day before I'd played a huge concert, selling lots
of records. The day after won an award, played more
huge concerts, and I've never been more despondent.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I appreciate your making up that story just to make
me feel good.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
It's completely true, because I remember walking around this hotel
and these walls of glass only had these little bitty
like foldy open windows at the bottom, and I was
looking at that and I was like, fuck, if that
window opened more, I would just jump out and die
because I'm done. You think when you get to where
you want to go, finally you'll be happy, But then
you get to where you want to go and you're
(30:30):
just as miserable as you were. In fact, you're even
even more miserable because you no longer have anything to
aspire to, and you feel this hopelessness because everything like
what's left to aspire towards.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
It feels like Moby's trying to explain something to Gregor.
Moby grew up poor with a single mother and lived
on food stamps. When Moby was a kid, his dad
died in a car crash, and a few years ago
his mom passed away from lung cancer. He has no siblings,
so essentially he's alone.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I look at Gregor and I think of like, I
know his family very well, and from my perspective, like,
first of all, he has a fel like I don't
really I have some aunts and uncles and cousins. You
have some other siblings, I'm sure, And and to me
that still makes me feel like, oh, he's figured out
(31:23):
things that I don't understand.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Of course, I'm very successful. That I have a beautiful
child and blah blah blah, two of them. Actually I
won't say which one. I have two children. One is
beautiful anyway, you know, the like a man's wealth is
measured in family, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
It, but it's not you.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
You turn.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Every time these things come up, you always make them
into light.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Well, that's what I'm saying is something you hear in
the South Park, right. But what I'm saying is that
that era when like still seemed like life had potential
to go a bunch of different ways. Now it seemed less.
So it's not even squandered potential. It's just like you
could have been somebody becomes like you didn't.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Every year you lose a little bit of potential, you know,
like at this point, like I'm fifty and I'm like, oh,
most of my life I thought at some point I
could be a father, and I'm like, well, probably not.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
And I have one issue. Yeah, I don't really have
to peek. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Well, movie was conveniently indisposed. I took the opportunity to
reiterate our mission getting back the CDs as much as
it behooves you, like, just try to keep it.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Up the CDs, all right, I don't think we only
have about ten.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Minutes chet it?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Do you want me to wrestle him to the ground?
And no, you have something, particularly money, you want to say.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Moby emerges from the bathroom, cutting our conversation short, and
Gregor steps up to the plate and begins in the middle.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Yeah, I still listen to Sounds of the South on YouTube.
They have the full set. And as far as that
actual disset, did you hang on to that or that
is the CD?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
The box actual stuff, Yeah, they're somewhere. Most of it's
in storage and Queens souts like this medium sized storage
locker and it's just like packed to the rafters with stuff.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Finally, it's my moment to be the interlocutor. I think
Gregor sort of wanted those CDs back, if only to
put them on a mantle, to feel like I was
a part of something, like I mattered, I existed.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
I mean I view this more like I handed you
the pen and then you wrote, you know, the great
book with it. It's not that I had some role in.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
But like the guy who introduced Andy Warhol to the
can of Campbell's soup or whatever.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
I mean, this is not like a legal deposition where
it's like who said it? I mean it was fucking
twenty five years ago.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
As Gregor and I parry, it's almost like we forget
that movie's even there. When suddenly he pipes up.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
One thing, Just to be super clear from the album play,
two of the most remarkably iconic songs on the record
would never have been written or existed had I not
been given those CDs. Like I didn't know who Alan
Lomax was, and I that that the box set called
Sounds of the South. I didn't know it existed, and
(34:36):
I certainly like it was an expensive box set. And
there's no way I was going to walk into Tower
Records and spend sixty five dollars or however much it
was going to be on a box set I knew
nothing about from an archivist I'd never heard of. So, like,
those are one hundred percent the result of me being
given those CDs.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So we're saying you're not Gregor's not getting the CDs back.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Okay, here's the story. Friend of mine, her mother died
in a very very sad, tragic way, and she came
to me and she started crying, and she said that
at the funeral they played the song Natural Blues and
everyone in the church was crying and it was one
(35:21):
of the most powerful emotional moments of her life that
wouldn't have ever existed if you hadn't given me those CDs.
So to me, that's more priceless and precious than any
sort of like objective, quantifiable metric.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
How does that make you feel?
Speaker 4 (35:40):
I mean it makes me feel like thinking about, you know,
getting a pair of bolt cutters and breaking into a
steady storage in Queens is not what I'm going to do.
That was my plan.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
And so Gregor doesn't get what he came for. But
maybe not getting everything you want in the grander scheme
isn't so bad.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
One practical issue. So I have two podcast interviews to
do today. You guys are the first and a second.
You're in good company. It's with Rue Paul, nice crazy.
I mean, if you wanted to, we could always drive there.
Fun Like, if you guys want to get in the
car with me, my girlfriend is coming here. She's gonna
(36:35):
go with me because she's an obsessive Rue Paul fan.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Oh wow, really, Moby, his girlfriend, Gregor and I pile
into Moby's prius. Seen from the outside, Gregor seems happy
to be a part of Moby's life again. He's even
feeling comfortable enough to favor us with his famous John
Travolta imitation.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
I could drink tea. What do you think I could
drink tea? John Travolta. When she says, he says, wat't
your off with me? Sometimes she's like, in Manhattan, we
don't drink coffee, we drink tea, And he's like, so
what I could drink tea?
Speaker 3 (37:07):
And then, for whatever reason, Moby takes over my role
of interlocutor and begins explaining Gregor's style to his girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
And Gregor is funny and at times like would maybe
be here. It comes honest in a way that people
might be take a fence to or at.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Or, as Moby's learning firsthand, interlocketing for Gregor isn't so easy.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Hi, I'm here for Rupe Paul's podcast.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
At the hotel. We're shown into a conference room where
we're greeted by Rupe Paul and his co host Michelle
as a trail behind Moby. For the first time in
my life, I feel a part of a bona fide
Hollywood entourage.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
So we've been doing an interesting podcast because Gregor and I.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Have known each other for twenty seven years at all. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
We watch as RuPaul interviews Moby, and when Moby says
interesting things like my mom was born in San Diego.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Was born in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
RuPaul responds with engaged interest, and when Moby off handedly
mentions a song, RuPaul and Michelle sing it, and as
they do, I find myself thinking only one thing. Now,
this is how you run a podcast.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
When Moby and Gregor say their goodbyes, Moby tells him
that he'll be coming to San Francisco soon and he'll
be sure to give Gregor a call, and Gregor says
he'd like that. But before parting, Gregor can't help giving
it just one last nudge.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
I have one more question for you. Can you just
tell me the name of the storage facility where this
he is? No, it's for a friend. They need to
store something in Queens. No, there was one place. I'm
just saying, Hey, it's the same place.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Gregor's comfortable enough to joke around about something that had
once plagued him, and Movie's comfortable enough to uncomfortably laugh
along with him. All around. It feels pretty nice. So
(39:32):
how did you feel about how that went? I think
it was cathartic, No, really, seriously. With some time to
kill before a flight, Gregor and I decide to hike
up to the observatory. Do you feel like he screwed
you out of your CDs? Yet again?
Speaker 4 (39:46):
The honest truth is he did give me a good
long song and dance about how we all learned a lesson.
I didn't get the thing that I set out to get,
But in seriousness, I honestly feel in a funny sort
of way, I got what I came for.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Which was what you didn't get your CDs.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
You see, you're a petty person. What you just saw
and apparently we're deaf you couldn't hear was a reconciliation
with two guys after twenty five years of slight estrangement.
So you guys did get to be friends. Yeah. I
think they just buried the hatchets. This CD thing, yeah,
is a symbol. I mean, who cares about the CD?
Speaker 3 (40:22):
But you were the one't who cared about the CD.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
Look, it's hard to come together and just hug it out.
What you just witnessed was a version of hugging it out,
two men having a good cry. That's about the closest
that I come.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Well, then, I think that was great. I think this
was a success. I agree, still would have been nice
to get your CDs.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
Back of course. I don't know if the rental car
you got there at a.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
CD player, but it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
There would have been no better ending to this day
than to drive out of the parking lot cranking.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, but cars don't have Nobody has CD players anymore.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
And let me tell you something. If some of the
Moby's song comes on the radio right now, I'd let
it play. I'd even sing along.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
If you I'm going to find it out my phone
and play.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
That's okay?
Speaker 3 (41:14):
You sure, because I actually downloaded.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
It as best for you.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Three days later, and much to his surprise, Gregor received
an email from Moby. This might sound odd, the email read,
but I realized I never said a true, heartfelt thank
you for giving me those CDs, So in all sincerity,
thank you. I'm sorry it's taken so long to say
thank you. Gregor said he was happier that the thank
(41:43):
you came three days later. This way, he knew it
wasn't just out of politeness, that it must have been
quote boring a hole through his head for days after
receiving movies thank you, Gregor immediately wrote back a thank
you of his own, in the form of a joke
which if you'd didn't know Gregor could also be taken
as an insult, but Moby did know Gregor, and so
(42:05):
for Gregor, it was back to being a normal friendship.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Now that the Ferners returned to its goodwill home, now
that the last month's rent is scheming with the damage,
de Bosle take this moment to dessert.
Speaker 4 (43:01):
If we imagine if we too.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Felt around for far to from things accident.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Lee Heavyweight is hosted and produced by me Jonathan Goldstein
along with Wendy Door, Chris Neary, and Khalila Holt. Editing
by Alex Bloomberg and Peter Clowney. Special thanks to Emily Condon,
Paul Tuff, Stevie Lane, Michelle Harris, Dimitri Erlik, Sean Cole
and Jorge just and a very special thank you to
(43:35):
my dear friend Jackie Cohen. The show was mixed by
Hailey Shaw. Music for this episode by Christine Fellows, with
additional music by Talkstar, The Eastern Watershed, Klesmer Quartet, and
Hailey Shaw, who also did our ad music. Our theme
music is by The weaker Thands courtesy of Epitaph Records.
Follow us on Twitter at Heavyweight or email us at
Heavyweight at Gimblithmedia dot Com. We'll have a new episode
(43:57):
next week. Mhm.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
I should go back and ring his doorbell now and
ask for that lenonade book. It was kind of expensive.
Doesn't seem like you're gonna drink it.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Gotta feel thirsty, And you.
Speaker 4 (44:12):
Know what, I don't.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
I don't want to show up twenty years from now
asking for those lemonades because you're gonna tell me it's
in a storage locker.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
And queens, what'd you do with that?
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Seriously? Like when someone brings you beverages, like you put
the mat on the table, Maybe bring out a glass
for a person or a straw.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
What kind of a monster is he
Bad time.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I was just just stepping out.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
I was just you enjoy music, right, Yeah. This week's
show kind of deals with music, and it got me thinking.
I have a confession to make. You know how, sometimes
like you have dinner parties and they're great. I wanted
to say, sometimes how you sometimes play music? Yeah, sometimes
I'm a little hesitant to come over for dinner.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
You're always hesitant to come over for dinner.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, it's not including Mary.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Clods forty fifth birthday.
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Do you remember that?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I do you know that Bumballeo song? I can't find
my Gypsy King CD because your husband hit it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
It's killing me.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Killing everybody. The reason sometimes I have some difficulty with
my digestion these dinner parties is it's the Bumballeo song.
It's the Gypsy Kings. Oh this is great. You know
what bumbalao? Bumbalaya translates as what wobble wobble? All right,
we'll speak to you one thing before we go. Okay,
I'm going to say bumbalao and you say bombalaya.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I do it, and then I.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Bomb.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
From Gimblet Media, I'm Jonathan Goldstein and this is Heavyweight.
Today's episode Gregor, this.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Guy's gonna ram you from behind because you're going eleven
miles to left, although you usually don't do it from
the right line. Okay, let's not give kill. Do you
have a driver's license?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
This is Gregor and me on our way to lunch,
and what you're hearing is typical. When I'm driving, Gregor
comments on my speed. When I eat, he comments on
my table manners, and when I eat yogurt, he comments
on the way I lick the inside lid, calling it
both letchrous and unmanly. Some might say that Gregor is
overly critical, possibly even prickly, but I would not. I
(02:06):
love Gregor for many reasons. His loyalty, his generosity, his
being the kind of person will pick you up at
the airport at four in the morning without even complaining.
But it's perhaps his courage to say the things that
were all not exactly thinking, but maybe thinking about thinking,
that is most thrilling. And so when he showed up
(02:28):
at my office mocking himself instead of me and speaking
in biblical parables, I was concerned.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Was it the Pharaoh and the Joseph story who said
the seven lean years and seven fat years? Yeah? I
had this insight today that the fat years are about
to end.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Would these have been the fat years?
Speaker 4 (02:44):
That's what I realized literally this morning. I woke up
and I was like, wait, those were the fat years?
You know, in every conceivable way, financially, stability, prestige, all
the job stuff, and like creative accomplishment stuff. I just
feel like it's like going up and smoking on watching
it go up and smoke.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Gregor is forty eight years old and by profession he
makes marketing videos for a cleaning product usually found in
the bathroom. I can't tell you the name of this
product for fear Gregor will lose his job. In other words,
he's not the filmo tour he dreamt of being back
in his college days, underlining back issues of Kye to Cinema.
(03:23):
On top of that, he says that over the past
few years he's seen his career slowly sucked downward. Not
unlike oh, I don't know, the spiraling waters of a
sink unclogged by a chemical drain opener designed to flush
pipes and attack clogs at their worst.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
What's that children's game where everyone goes around the chairs
musical chairs, chairs, and everyone sits down and you're like, oh,
that friend of mine became a CEO. These four friends
are like EVP SVP senior whatever at their things. That
friend of mine wound up sitting in the president of
Estonia's chair, and then you're like the music stops and
(04:00):
you're left standing.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I've heard him reel off this list before, and Gregor
fully admits it. The success of anyone he knows, no
matter how thin, his connection to them, feels like a
reflection of his own shortcomings, including the ascension of his
elementary school's librarian son, who is now the president of Estonia.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
The point of the story is where's my presidency of
my Estonia? My circumstances I was, I was like, oh
things will you know, about to break through, about to change?
And now, like you could say, well, this is just
to setback, it's you know whatever, Soon your ship's going
to come in. But it's just not you know, I mean,
that's just the simple truth, the uncomfortable truth.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Of all Gregor's stories about the success of his acquaintances
and friends, there's one story that he returns to most,
and not only is it the greatest success story of
them all, it's the one that touched his life the
most intimately. The story all begins about twenty years ago
in Manhattan, when Gregor was living in a small apartment
in Chinatown with his older brother Dimitri. One night, they
(05:06):
had a friend of theirs over for dinner, a techno
musician friend.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
He was really poor at the time. He was living
in like I think in like a basement in a
warehouse or something, for forty dollars a month. He was
an articulate smart guy, still an articular smart guy, but
he's sort of an unlikely rock star in that his
hair had mostly fallen out even when we were still
in our twenties. But I watched his ascent. He played
the bigger and bigger crowds during this techno kind of stuff.
(05:31):
And then eventually he got a record contract, and I
at the time got hold of a very obscure set
of CDs which were field hollers Oooh.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Trouble So I.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Thought it was really interesting stuff. I loaned him this
box set of CDs Oooh Lone Trouble. So he then
sampled it very heavily trouble God and created a record
with got him very rich and very famous.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
This guy you're speaking of, This guy's Moby Trouble, Moby
bald headed, bespectacled, castle dwelling, multi million records selling Moby.
(06:30):
But back then he was just Gregor's pal who spent
weekends at Gregor's family's place and attended family birthday parties too.
In bars and during long car rides, Gregor and Moby
had long, earnest conversations about God and the things they believed.
They were living their twenties together, and those CDs Gregor
lent Moby. The box set Sounds of the South was
(06:52):
recorded by the ethno musicologist Alan Lomax. Beginning in the
nineteen thirties. Lomax and his father John made the thousands
of field recordings, mostly in the American South. These recordings
are among the most important in American music, preserving dozens
of African American songs from the early years of the
twentieth century.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Rea Some Time, Better, No Ala Sometime.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Another hit on Moby's album is called Honey. It makes
use of the song sometimes sung by Bessie Smith Jones.
Jones was taught these songs by her grandfather, a former
slave born in Africa. This is Moby's version, So is
everybody feeling like I've here elected to play for you
(07:40):
the live version of the song with all of its
foot stomping and audience cheering. It's how I imagine Gregor
hears it echoing in his head during those sleepless nights
when his kishkas are slowly being corroded by battery acid.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Sometime when I discovered this CD set, I was like
an evangelist. I was like, this is amazing. You got
to check this out. He was over the house and
I was like, you got to take this home. This
amazing stuff. This is the best CD I've heard. You know,
I don't know how long I've been listening to NonStop rotation.
I love the CD. So it wasn't just laying in
a pile. And he happened to put it in his
bag and walk out the door. I said, I sold
(08:15):
him on it.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
And Moby makes use of several Lomax recordings on his
album Play, which went multi platinum. Play eventually became one
of the most commercially licensed albums ever recorded. At the time,
the songs were used to promote everything from luxury cars
(08:39):
to credit cards, and before Play, according to Rolling Stone Magazine,
Moby was quote bumbling around New York as it has been,
and then was there an intermediary step before that, and
then hearing it on the CD where he said, hey,
by the way, thanks.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
No, I said, this is amazing thing. Next thing I
heard it's on the radio and I said, hey, can
I get that box setback? And then years of not
being friends.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
And according to Gregor, that was all he wanted to
get his CDs back. He was looking for neither riches
nor credit, just the CDs, which he claims were only alone.
And so this is how it went. He began leaving
Moby voice messages by Gregor's count about a dozen that
all went unanswered. Then, in a final act of desperation,
(09:26):
Gregor penned a song called Moby give Me Back my CDs,
which he sang into Moby's answering machine with accompanying karaoke
music to the tune of Brian Adams Heaven. After much cajoling,
Gregor dug up his lyrics, which I will now perform
for you, Moby give me back my CDs, the recordings
(09:50):
from the Field, the Alan Lomax box set CDs. I
think there were seven. Those discs are all that I need,
the ones I gave you from my house. I think
you'll be sure to see there were seven and that message,
(10:13):
Gregor says, was met with over a decade of silence.
Did he ever explain, like, did he just ever come
out and tell you honestly what became of those CDs?
Speaker 4 (10:23):
No? I think he was busy, like playing, like, you know,
a concert to ninety thousand people in Raikovic and drinking
champagne out of a prostitute shoe. Couldn't be bothered. Obviously,
I put an exaggerated value on the CDs. I'm sure
he could have sampled anything, and he had a plenty
big career before that and after that. I mean, I'm
not insane, but it was more that displaced feeling of
(10:47):
like I had this thing go off and bloom without me.
I'll tell you an interesting detail in that. Yeah, whenever
mobi music comes on, I can't listen to it.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
But do you think if you get it back you
won't feel that way.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I feel like I could work it through like therapy,
where I could then listen to the music again. You know,
there's a sense of what.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
About my you know, where's my gold album?
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Gregor has theories about why nothing ever happened for him
and they revolve around an aspect of his personality, an
aspect he refers to as a lack of affability.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Like a lot of times I'll say something completely earnestly
mm hmm, like past the water, and they're like, are
you being sarcastic? Like that happened to me all the time.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
How could you ask for the water sarcastically?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
I come across as being sarcastic when I'm not.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So it's almost like a handicap of It's.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
A huge handicap. I think it's fundamentally, as I understand
my own life, that is my cross to bear, that's
what's wrecked my life.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well, I think you would. Even like you told me
that story about where you were in the conference room
at work, They're like compl menting you on your new
glasses or something and saying, hey, what does your wife
think of those glasses? And you were like, how the
fuck do I know? I why don't ask my wife
to find out?
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Do you remember? Yeah? I don't remember. I mean so
they said like, what is your wife think of that?
I was like, how do I know? Ask my wife?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Recently, Gregor and Moby have found themselves back in touch,
though in the most tangential, impersonal way possible through group
emails and texts. Gregor's older brother, Dimitri, remained friends with
Moby over the years, and Dmitri recently had a baby,
so he loops in Moby, Gregor and one other old
friend on updates. This has evolved into a small group
(12:44):
of friends exchanging witticisms and fun facts like did you
know that the fatty flesh around the elbow is called
a wenus? So while the new group email friendship isn't
the same as the old close one, it's still an
open door. And so I couldn't help asking the question,
now that that door has swung open again, do you
(13:05):
see this as an opportunity to ask for those CDs
once again?
Speaker 4 (13:08):
I was thinking about it, were you, just because it's
kind of a little symbolic of what I don't even
have a CD player anymore, right, But I was just thinking,
for talismonic purposes, it would be interesting to.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Have them back say more about that.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
I think that it might soothe me.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Do you really think it would.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
I'll actually give you the clarity which just came to me. Now, okay,
it's not Instead of the money and the fame and
all that stuff. What it is is tangible evidence. Understand
you did this, you exist, you did it, you pulled
it off.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
You want to be able to say, see these CDs
on the shelf.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
That's the ones that I gave to mommy, because for me,
this would just be a version of proof.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Wanting the CDs you lent someone decades ago and expecting
them back is of course insanity, but insanity's repeated often enough,
especially between friends, can begin to feel pacifying, lulling, even.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Excuse me, in.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
A way, you just want your due.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Do you think you can articulate that in a way
that would make it understandable to him?
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Do you think I'm pretty confident I can't, because he's
still pretty sensitive.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Okay, pretty sensitive, pretty sensitive. Like the time Moby seemed
to bristle when Gregor emailed him about something totally innocuous,
a condolence for the death of Moby's friend David Bowie.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
You know, I said some witty thing about David Bowie dying,
he wrote, like texted back, like the picture of him
and David Bowie in the cover of entertainment.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Let's back up for a moment. What was the witty
thing you said about David Bowie's death.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
You know, like, good night, funny man, What does that
even mean? That's usually what I say when people die.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
If this is a sampling of the hot takes Gregor
has in store, I fear that this newly opened door
between Moby and Gregor might not remain open forever. I
also knew that if he has any hope of ever
getting back those CDs, he'll need a middleman or interlocutor
or interlocutor. So, perhaps against my better judgment, I allow
(15:25):
myself to be swept up by the moment. I just
don't know if this is going to lead to anything
but heartbreak. But why don't we go after the CDs?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
All right?
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And with that ringing call to arms, my path was
set and the mission begun. Say I'm Moby, Like, how
would you ask, Hey.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Moby, can I have back those CDs? I've never understood
any approach other than a direct approach, So that's what
I would do.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
After the break the Hollywood Hills, a surprise encounter with
Rue Paul and maybe be Moby. Maybe the airline tickets
were purchased, the hotel was booked, but a couple of
days before we were set to leave for La. I
(16:16):
got nervous if Gregor already was in a bad place,
could my meddling possibly make things worse? Hello, hey Anica. Yeah,
I decided to reach out to the person who knows
Gregor best, his wife, Annika. So do you know about
this this little project that your husband and I are undertaking?
Speaker 6 (16:40):
So I think that the is a strategy to like
ambush Moby and try and get him to give back
the CDs that he went Gregor thirty years ago or
however long it was ago. Is that true?
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You make it sound like such a classy operation. Yeah.
Has Gregor brought this issue up to you before this
whole Alan Lomack CD issue?
Speaker 6 (17:05):
So I met him on November eleventh, two thousand, Yeah,
and it came up pretty early in our relationship.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
So he yeah, like first date conversation, It was.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
Definitely early on. It's very hard for him to let
stuff go. And like, even like early on our relationship,
we went to Spain together and we bought a bottle
of olive oil in some town or something and we
left it by accident in the rental car and it
still bothers him.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Do you know, I think I actually know that Olive
Oil story.
Speaker 6 (17:45):
Oh yeah, yeah, there is something that is in his
character that is very much like the Larry David character,
where it's like, you know, like obsessing about a very
small point. But you know, he's like a very sensitive person.
So it's just part of who he is and part
(18:06):
of his wonderful package.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Does this undertaking have your blessing or do you think
it's foolhardy?
Speaker 6 (18:15):
I don't. Sometimes I worry about Gregor's feelings because he
is very hurt, very easily, and I don't know if
Moby is really that sensitive to his feelings.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I Gregor flew in from San Francisco, and I was
there to greet him at the Bob Hope International Airport
in Burbank.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So this is the dream factory I've heard about.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
It's beautiful here. Even the underground parking lots smell like
suentan lotion. We have four hours before our appointment with Moby,
so we set off in our economy sized Carrio or
similar to experience everything LA has to offer. Are you excited, Yeah,
(19:05):
you don't sound excited.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
No, I'm full of anxiety. And let me tell you,
I feel an increasing sense of dread about the futility
of this undertaking.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
You're gonna get those CDs back my friend.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Okay, whatever you say in.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
A plastic bag, which he'll supply.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
You're gonna negotiate this like managing at which time of
my clients choosing the one plastic bag recycled acceptable plus
one coupon good for any flavor from basket in Robin's
ice cream or any substant that too.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
With just three hours and fifty nine minutes to go,
things were off to a rollicking start. It's like not moving.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
There's always traffic in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Look at the traffic. Are we gonna make it for movies?
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Yeah, we're gonna be stuck in horrible traffic. We have
until two No, we haven'tntil Oh really, we'll never make it.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Oh look there's the big Hollywood sign.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Wow, what a sight.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Huh. You used to say Hollywood.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Land Actually before that it was called hollywood Landville. Is
that true? Do you want Mexican food? Do you ever
eat Mexican food?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I love Mexican food.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
And to make you turn yeah, go go go. This
is like a four lane ewie, it's six really, go
go go go.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
When you knew to someone before they were famous, and
you treat them like someone who's not famous. Sometimes they
don't like that. Sometimes they're used to the difference and
the rock star treatment from everyone.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Can you try to treat them with a little more difference.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
That's what I'm gonna try to But the mask always slips.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Insofar as me coming here with you, how do you
feel about me as an interlocutor?
Speaker 4 (20:58):
I'm actually full of dread, mostly because of that. What
is that supposed to me? Because I recognize that I
need an interlocutor. I did say that, and I do
believe it. I think that you're going to be allowsy interlocutor.
Speaker 5 (21:08):
What do you think I'm gonna embarrass you in front
of your famous friends?
Speaker 4 (21:11):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yes, that's what you're afraid of.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (21:18):
No, But seriously, you think I'm gonna blow this?
Speaker 4 (21:20):
I just feel like you don't get the vibe of
what it's like when you're in like a guy's house
and you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
Be like, say, nice toilets, What are these made of?
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Porcelain? Ay? I'm gonna be like Johnny, please, I need
to be like no, I don't know what they're made up.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
That is to me, the final irity of this whole
thing that you're concerned that I'm gonna embarrass you.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
I don't want you to trip me up in my game,
my stride, my cadence.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
And what is it gonna be a part of your
game here to.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Try and relax and be myself. But I'm gonna be
made self conscious when you're like, do you validate parking here?
And I just need you to validate.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
God, this is so pretty? What a pretty place to live?
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Well, you're selling off CDs you can live in a
place like this.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Worried about our being tardy, I decided to run down
the clock doing laps around Moby's very pretty.
Speaker 4 (22:08):
Block, little tiny houses.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
I keep going straight. This is really pretty nice view
of the mountains.
Speaker 4 (22:15):
This is his house right here where all right here?
I want to drive by it, this house right there
at the corner.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
We were passing the gates of his home over and
over when a half hour before our appointed meeting.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
That's movie right there, is it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh Jesus, Moby emerges through the gates to get his newspaper.
Excited about seeing an honest to goodness famous person. I
instinctively slowed to a crawl and pulled over beside him
go say hi.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
No, no, come on, let him go to keep going.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
He just turned around.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
He didn't see any Yes, he did.
Speaker 5 (22:47):
He turned around and we made eye contact, and like,
I slid right up to him, and he turned around
and he seemed scared.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
That's exactly what I'm talking about. Don't slide up to
be when they're going to get their pretty That's true.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
I really did slide up to him.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, he did, like a creep. You're going to go
another pass through when he comes up for his milk.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
We walk off our nerves in a nearby park, where
Gregor dispenses life wisdom to a passing toddler.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Enjoy it, kid, the best it's going to be for
the rest of your life.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Who says things like that to a Child's happy?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
In love? His shirt said love. He's holding a little
girls at.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Outside Moby's door. We do some last minute strategizing.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Am I supposed to be the good cop or the
bad cop? I can't remember.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Well, I guess you were supposed to be the bad cop.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
No, I'm the bad cop. You're the good cop. I
usually play the bad cop.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
So fine, you're the bad cop.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
It's twelve to fifty seven. It's not really one yet.
Hall wait oh hello, Hi, I'm sorry, we're early. It's
twelve fifty seven. It's three minutes too early.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
Moby's personal assistant, a terrifyingly fit woman in jeans and
T shirt, leads us towards Moby's home. By rockstar standards,
it's pretty modest.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Hello, Hello, Hi, Sharman, mos been far too long? Should
I take shoes off? Hi? I am Jonathan.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Were led into a sunken foyer where a couple of
assistants are gathering equipment and making themselves scarce. Standing at
the top of the stairs looking not unlike a bald
headed gray hoodie. Norma Desmond is Moby. Gregor and he
do not hug or even shake hands. They don't even wave.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
It's been far too long, my friend where he's staying, and.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Gregor drops his bag and has a LOOXI.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Beautiful location, your beautiful assistance. Everything beautiful.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
He's even brought along a thoughtful gift, something to cater
to Moby's strict veganism and clean, healthy lifestyle. Fancy all
natural lemonades.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Something disgusting with turmeric? Whoa something awful with probiotic cayenne peppers,
something horrifying with lemons.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
To our part, dismay. Moby takes the beverages and places
them in the fridge. Gregor and I are never to
see those beverages again. As we settle in and I
set up our recording gear, Gregor notices a pile of
video equipment.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Why do you have two C three hundred, sir?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Remember that slippery mask? Gregor mentioned the one hiding is
rough Edges ten seconds in and it was already a slippin'.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Why am I not involved that produce films all the time?
Speaker 3 (25:27):
I can help you to which Moby, rather than saying
he's worked with David Lynch and David la Chappelle and
probably all set on that front, instead says, I mean you.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Live in San Francisco. Yeah, but I'm here all the time,
not literally in your living room, in your kitchen, though
I could be more often.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Gregor can't help treating Moby like a nephew making his
first student film. That is, Gregor's treating Moby the way
he treats me. And this of course is concerning.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
First of all, before we even get that far, how would.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
You At this point, Moby has mostly no idea why
we're here. I made an appointment with his assistant, but
it was left vague. So Moby takes the direct approach.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So what are you guys doing?
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Well? This is an excellent question. Well, let's begin at
the beginning, around the time contemporaneous with your recent autobiography,
the mid nineties two thousands, and.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Like, after all of his braggadocio about how he was
going to walk in there and demand the CDs back,
Gregor's nervous being uncharacteristically Mealy mouthed, unable to explain the
basics of our mission.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
And so this conversation became down this kind of alleyway
of that facet of like I was kind of like,
what is me?
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Moby had limited time, so at the risk of embarrassing
Gregor in front of his famous friend, I decided to
step in and explain. So, can I tell my story
of you coming to last time I saw Gregor? He
came to visit me at work.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
And.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
You were kind of in this mood where you or
feeling like maybe those things that you were hopeful about
achieving were not going to be happening. And I think
you were in well. Gregor looks on skeptically. I try
to explain to Moby Gregor's midlife malaise how everyone was
passing him by. Can you relate to the feeling of like,
(27:19):
have you ever, at different points in your life, felt
like like surpassed by your friends or you know what
I mean? Oh?
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Yeah, Like there's always going to be someone doing so
much better than you that if you spend the time
to look at it, you're going to feel bad about yourself.
Like my nemesis, well, according to him for a while,
was eminem So if he was my nemesis, I was
just being beaten publicly and badly because he was always
more successful, always selling more records, always more popular, always cooler,
(27:51):
and so depends on who I was comparing myself to.
Over time, like other people start selling more records, getting
better reviews, you start selling fewer tickets. And then as
the two thousands progressed, my career waned and other people's escalated,
you know, Like I would go to visit my record
(28:12):
company and they'd have my picture behind the receptionist desk,
and then one day I show up and it's Jack
White's picture behind the reception System'm like.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
Whoa what? Yeah, I mean I think the only way
to hear that, honestly is in the split screen between
totally head nodding one hundred percent agree and totally like
easy for you to say, because you're looking down from
the mountain, looking up, you're like, fucking knock that guy
off the mountain because all I need is mind billion
dollars down I looked.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
But really, the kick in the teeth of fame is
that if you don't have it, you beat yourself up
that you don't have it, and if you do have it,
you're miserable and you kill yourself. Literally, the most depressed
I've ever been in my entire life was the height
of my professional success. And I remember this one moment
so clearly. I was at an MTV Awards in Barcelona,
(29:03):
and there's this hotel called the Arts Hotel in Barcelona,
and it's so beautiful and at the tippity top of
the hotel they have four three bedroom apartments and I
was in one, P Diddy was in one, Jon bon
Jovi was in one, and Madonna was in one. And
so you'd take like one elevator to get to a
certain floor, then another elevator to another floor, and then
(29:24):
a security guard would wave you through up to our
hallowed floor. And the first night I was there, I
invited some people over to like look at the view
and drink, and I kept drinking by myself, and I
got more and more despondent, and I literally, at the
end of the evening, before going to bed, was walking
around this beautiful, insane apartment crying, thinking about how I
(29:45):
could get out the window to kill myself. And the
next day I won an MTV award. So it's like, professionally,
things couldn't have been better.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
The day before I'd played a huge concert, selling lots
of records. The day after won an award, played more
huge concerts, and I've never been more despondent.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I appreciate your making up that story just to make
me feel good.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
It's completely true, because I remember walking around this hotel
and these walls of glass only had these little bitty
like foldy open windows at the bottom, and I was
looking at that and I was like, fuck, if that
window opened more, I would just jump out and die
because I'm done. You think when you get to where
you want to go, finally you'll be happy, But then
you get to where you want to go and you're
(30:30):
just as miserable as you were. In fact, you're even
even more miserable because you no longer have anything to
aspire to, and you feel this hopelessness because everything like
what's left to aspire towards.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
It feels like Moby's trying to explain something to Gregor.
Moby grew up poor with a single mother and lived
on food stamps. When Moby was a kid, his dad
died in a car crash, and a few years ago
his mom passed away from lung cancer. He has no siblings,
so essentially he's alone.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I look at Gregor and I think of like, I
know his family very well, and from my perspective, like,
first of all, he has a fel like I don't
really I have some aunts and uncles and cousins. You
have some other siblings, I'm sure, And and to me
that still makes me feel like, oh, he's figured out
(31:23):
things that I don't understand.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Of course, I'm very successful. That I have a beautiful
child and blah blah blah, two of them. Actually I
won't say which one. I have two children. One is
beautiful anyway, you know, the like a man's wealth is
measured in family, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (31:47):
It, but it's not you.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
You turn.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Every time these things come up, you always make them
into light.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Well, that's what I'm saying is something you hear in
the South Park, right. But what I'm saying is that
that era when like still seemed like life had potential
to go a bunch of different ways. Now it seemed less.
So it's not even squandered potential. It's just like you
could have been somebody becomes like you didn't.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Every year you lose a little bit of potential, you know,
like at this point, like I'm fifty and I'm like, oh,
most of my life I thought at some point I
could be a father, and I'm like, well, probably not.
Speaker 4 (32:32):
And I have one issue. Yeah, I don't really have
to peek. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Well, movie was conveniently indisposed. I took the opportunity to
reiterate our mission getting back the CDs as much as
it behooves you, like, just try to keep it.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Up the CDs, all right, I don't think we only
have about ten.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
Minutes chet it?
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Do you want me to wrestle him to the ground?
And no, you have something, particularly money, you want to say.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Moby emerges from the bathroom, cutting our conversation short, and
Gregor steps up to the plate and begins in the middle.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
Yeah, I still listen to Sounds of the South on YouTube.
They have the full set. And as far as that
actual disset, did you hang on to that or that
is the CD?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
The box actual stuff, Yeah, they're somewhere. Most of it's
in storage and Queens souts like this medium sized storage
locker and it's just like packed to the rafters with stuff.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Finally, it's my moment to be the interlocutor. I think
Gregor sort of wanted those CDs back, if only to
put them on a mantle, to feel like I was
a part of something, like I mattered, I existed.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
I mean I view this more like I handed you
the pen and then you wrote, you know, the great
book with it. It's not that I had some role in.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
But like the guy who introduced Andy Warhol to the
can of Campbell's soup or whatever.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
I mean, this is not like a legal deposition where
it's like who said it? I mean it was fucking
twenty five years ago.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
As Gregor and I parry, it's almost like we forget
that movie's even there. When suddenly he pipes up.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
One thing, Just to be super clear from the album play,
two of the most remarkably iconic songs on the record
would never have been written or existed had I not
been given those CDs. Like I didn't know who Alan
Lomax was, and I that that the box set called
Sounds of the South. I didn't know it existed, and
(34:36):
I certainly like it was an expensive box set. And
there's no way I was going to walk into Tower
Records and spend sixty five dollars or however much it
was going to be on a box set I knew
nothing about from an archivist I'd never heard of. So, like,
those are one hundred percent the result of me being
given those CDs.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So we're saying you're not Gregor's not getting the CDs back.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Okay, here's the story. Friend of mine, her mother died
in a very very sad, tragic way, and she came
to me and she started crying, and she said that
at the funeral they played the song Natural Blues and
everyone in the church was crying and it was one
(35:21):
of the most powerful emotional moments of her life that
wouldn't have ever existed if you hadn't given me those CDs.
So to me, that's more priceless and precious than any
sort of like objective, quantifiable metric.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
How does that make you feel?
Speaker 4 (35:40):
I mean it makes me feel like thinking about, you know,
getting a pair of bolt cutters and breaking into a
steady storage in Queens is not what I'm going to do.
That was my plan.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
And so Gregor doesn't get what he came for. But
maybe not getting everything you want in the grander scheme
isn't so bad.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
One practical issue. So I have two podcast interviews to
do today. You guys are the first and a second.
You're in good company. It's with Rue Paul, nice crazy.
I mean, if you wanted to, we could always drive there.
Fun Like, if you guys want to get in the
car with me, my girlfriend is coming here. She's gonna
(36:35):
go with me because she's an obsessive Rue Paul fan.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Oh wow, really, Moby, his girlfriend, Gregor and I pile
into Moby's prius. Seen from the outside, Gregor seems happy
to be a part of Moby's life again. He's even
feeling comfortable enough to favor us with his famous John
Travolta imitation.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
I could drink tea. What do you think I could
drink tea? John Travolta. When she says, he says, wat't
your off with me? Sometimes she's like, in Manhattan, we
don't drink coffee, we drink tea, And he's like, so
what I could drink tea?
Speaker 3 (37:07):
And then, for whatever reason, Moby takes over my role
of interlocutor and begins explaining Gregor's style to his girlfriend.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
And Gregor is funny and at times like would maybe
be here. It comes honest in a way that people
might be take a fence to or at.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Or, as Moby's learning firsthand, interlocketing for Gregor isn't so easy.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Hi, I'm here for Rupe Paul's podcast.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
At the hotel. We're shown into a conference room where
we're greeted by Rupe Paul and his co host Michelle
as a trail behind Moby. For the first time in
my life, I feel a part of a bona fide
Hollywood entourage.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
So we've been doing an interesting podcast because Gregor and I.
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Have known each other for twenty seven years at all. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
We watch as RuPaul interviews Moby, and when Moby says
interesting things like my mom was born in San Diego.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Was born in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
RuPaul responds with engaged interest, and when Moby off handedly
mentions a song, RuPaul and Michelle sing it, and as
they do, I find myself thinking only one thing. Now,
this is how you run a podcast.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
When Moby and Gregor say their goodbyes, Moby tells him
that he'll be coming to San Francisco soon and he'll
be sure to give Gregor a call, and Gregor says
he'd like that. But before parting, Gregor can't help giving
it just one last nudge.
Speaker 4 (38:55):
I have one more question for you. Can you just
tell me the name of the storage facility where this
he is? No, it's for a friend. They need to
store something in Queens. No, there was one place. I'm
just saying, Hey, it's the same place.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Gregor's comfortable enough to joke around about something that had
once plagued him, and Movie's comfortable enough to uncomfortably laugh
along with him. All around. It feels pretty nice. So
(39:32):
how did you feel about how that went? I think
it was cathartic, No, really, seriously. With some time to
kill before a flight, Gregor and I decide to hike
up to the observatory. Do you feel like he screwed
you out of your CDs? Yet again?
Speaker 4 (39:46):
The honest truth is he did give me a good
long song and dance about how we all learned a lesson.
I didn't get the thing that I set out to get,
But in seriousness, I honestly feel in a funny sort
of way, I got what I came for.
Speaker 3 (39:58):
Which was what you didn't get your CDs.
Speaker 4 (40:03):
You see, you're a petty person. What you just saw
and apparently we're deaf you couldn't hear was a reconciliation
with two guys after twenty five years of slight estrangement.
So you guys did get to be friends. Yeah. I
think they just buried the hatchets. This CD thing, yeah,
is a symbol. I mean, who cares about the CD?
Speaker 3 (40:22):
But you were the one't who cared about the CD.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
Look, it's hard to come together and just hug it out.
What you just witnessed was a version of hugging it out,
two men having a good cry. That's about the closest
that I come.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Well, then, I think that was great. I think this
was a success. I agree, still would have been nice
to get your CDs.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
Back of course. I don't know if the rental car
you got there at a.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
CD player, but it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (40:56):
There would have been no better ending to this day
than to drive out of the parking lot cranking.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yeah, but cars don't have Nobody has CD players anymore.
Speaker 4 (41:03):
And let me tell you something. If some of the
Moby's song comes on the radio right now, I'd let
it play. I'd even sing along.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
If you I'm going to find it out my phone
and play.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
That's okay?
Speaker 3 (41:14):
You sure, because I actually downloaded.
Speaker 4 (41:16):
It as best for you.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Three days later, and much to his surprise, Gregor received
an email from Moby. This might sound odd, the email read,
but I realized I never said a true, heartfelt thank
you for giving me those CDs, So in all sincerity,
thank you. I'm sorry it's taken so long to say
thank you. Gregor said he was happier that the thank
(41:43):
you came three days later. This way, he knew it
wasn't just out of politeness, that it must have been
quote boring a hole through his head for days after
receiving movies thank you, Gregor immediately wrote back a thank
you of his own, in the form of a joke
which if you'd didn't know Gregor could also be taken
as an insult, but Moby did know Gregor, and so
(42:05):
for Gregor, it was back to being a normal friendship.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Now that the Ferners returned to its goodwill home, now
that the last month's rent is scheming with the damage,
de Bosle take this moment to dessert.
Speaker 4 (43:01):
If we imagine if we too.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Felt around for far to from things accident.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Lee Heavyweight is hosted and produced by me Jonathan Goldstein
along with Wendy Door, Chris Neary, and Khalila Holt. Editing
by Alex Bloomberg and Peter Clowney. Special thanks to Emily Condon,
Paul Tuff, Stevie Lane, Michelle Harris, Dimitri Erlik, Sean Cole
and Jorge just and a very special thank you to
(43:35):
my dear friend Jackie Cohen. The show was mixed by
Hailey Shaw. Music for this episode by Christine Fellows, with
additional music by Talkstar, The Eastern Watershed, Klesmer Quartet, and
Hailey Shaw, who also did our ad music. Our theme
music is by The weaker Thands courtesy of Epitaph Records.
Follow us on Twitter at Heavyweight or email us at
Heavyweight at Gimblithmedia dot Com. We'll have a new episode
(43:57):
next week. Mhm.
Speaker 4 (44:03):
I should go back and ring his doorbell now and
ask for that lenonade book. It was kind of expensive.
Doesn't seem like you're gonna drink it.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Gotta feel thirsty, And you.
Speaker 4 (44:12):
Know what, I don't.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
I don't want to show up twenty years from now
asking for those lemonades because you're gonna tell me it's
in a storage locker.
Speaker 4 (44:17):
And queens, what'd you do with that?
Speaker 3 (44:19):
Seriously? Like when someone brings you beverages, like you put
the mat on the table, Maybe bring out a glass
for a person or a straw.
Speaker 4 (44:24):
What kind of a monster is he
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