May 20, 2021 • 11 mins
Recording artist Moby joins us to talk about his new documentary on his life and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Tori A little bit you on Mario Lopez Join me
now on Zoom Recording Icon, Moby, Welcome to the show Man.
How are you? I'm good. I mean I almost feel
guilty having nothing to really complain about, but generally speaking,
I have not. I feel like I have nothing to
complained about. I love that I am with you. There
more people should be um vocal about, you know, things
(00:22):
being good could couldn't could inspire others. Where are we
talking to you from today? I well, I was born
and raised in New York, but I moved to l
A about twelve years ago. So I'm here in Los
Felis in l A. Um, you can't really see it outside,
but I'm just right at the base of Griffiths Observatory.
Oh nice, that's a fun, cool area. How do you like?
How do you like l A? Well? I think that
(00:45):
I moved here for a reason that is so weird. Um.
I mean, obviously, for quite a long time people have
moved to l A either for like career, networking, what
have you. I'm moved here because there's a lot of
nature here. That's a good that's a good h that's
a good reason. The the climates always nice, especially if
(01:07):
you're into nature, you know. Um, yeah, so I moved here.
I didn't move here to go to red carpet events.
I didn't move here to network with agents. I moved
here so I could go hiking in the mountains in
February wearing jeans and a T shirt. Definitely can do that. Um,
congrats on the new movie, Moby Doc. You're not just
the subject, you're the writer in narrator, Why did you
(01:29):
want to tell the story this way? Well, I mean
because on one hand, it seems like it could just
be a really gratuitous exercise in narcissism, you know, like
producing a movie about myself seems like the most self
involved narcissistic thing anyone could do. But the reason I
(01:49):
wanted to make it was I got sober around twelve
years ago, and after getting sober, I started going to
a meetings and twelve Step meetings, and my favorite thing
about them was hearing people's stories, you know, going to
church basements, uh, going to weird I got sober in
a yoga studio, but hearing strangers tell their stories about
(02:12):
their struggles, about their experience of the human condition. And
so the goal of the movie is really just me
telling my story very specifically about trying to fix internal
issues with external things like fame or success, and how
like for me, like for a lot of people trying
(02:33):
to fix internal issues with external things didn't work. I'm
sure that was very therapeutic and will help a lot
of people because it sounds really relatable. UM. Filmmaker David
Lynch is one of the interviews in the dock. Had
that friendship start? Well, I mean, I've been an obsessive
fan of David Lynch since he made a racer head.
(02:54):
And you know, I loved twin Peaks, I loved blue velvet,
I loved Inland and Higher. I mean, he's I love
pretty much everything he's done and about. I guess twelve
years ago we became friends. I learned how to meditate
in his studio. As strange as that sounds, UM. I
even my wedding gift to him at his last wedding
(03:16):
was to DJ at his wedding, and so for part
of the wedding, he and I DJ together and there's
this very odd, surreal moment of me and David Lynch
standing next to each other djaying uh. And then we
made videos for each other we did remixes for each other.
And in making Moby Doc, I wanted it to be
(03:36):
unconventional because, as you know, a lot of music documentaries
are just interviews and it gets a little repetitive and
little boring. And so in Moby Doc there's only one
person interviewed, and that's David Lynch. That's cool man. Look
forward to UH checking it out there. UMU. As far
(03:57):
as music, I know you've got a new album coming
out on the twenty eight You've teamed up with an
orchestra to recreate some of your greatest hits. How did
How did that change the arranging process? It basically because
most of the music I've made in my life has
just been me alone in my studio. I have a
small studio. I love working there, but it's just me
(04:18):
by myself. Whereas making this record reprise, there was an
orchestra in Hungary, there was a string quartet in Los Angeles.
There's a gospel choir, there's percussionists, there's drummers, there's so
many different singers. So it was this approach to making
music that was so different than how I normally work.
But ultimately, as you know, the goal of music is
(04:41):
to communicate emotion, you know, whether it's made by one
person or an orchestra. The only real criteria by which
you can judge music is how someone feels emotionally when
they listen to it. It can take you back. It
could just conjure up so much nostalgia memories. Now I
love that about it. Um, do you land on on
going on tour? And if so, will you bring an orchestra? Well? So,
(05:06):
a few things. One. Uh, when I was growing up,
I thought that being a touring musician would be the
greatest thing in the world. And I won't complain about it,
but what I can say is I spent decades touring
and now one of my primary goals in life is
to stay home, you know, like I love waking up
(05:27):
in my bed every morning, like making a smoothie, reading
the New York Times, even though I live in Los Angeles,
going for a hike. So if I can avoid touring,
I will very happily avoid touring. Luckily, the logistics of
trying to tour with an orchestral album, Like, it's hard
to go on tour with a hundred and thirty piece orchestra. Yeah,
(05:50):
that's talking about rolling deep as the kids would say,
do you ever do like a residency somewhere? Well, I
might do. What I found is there are orchestras you
can perform with. So at some point I might, you know,
do a tour where it's basically just me and a
couple of singers, and we go to Berlin, we go
(06:11):
to Paris, we go to London, we go to Sydney,
you know, play with like big local orchestras. Um. But still,
if I can avoid that it just stay home and
open my bed every morning. I'm really happy. Now I'm
with you. There, I'm at that age, so I'm with you.
Um Malvie. I think it was about we really at
(06:31):
least kind of be a wearing. This level was high
for me and and I think everything changed with the
album play. And was there a moment that you realized, Wow,
this this is a game changer. This is my life's
gonna be different from this point on. Yeah. Well, so
basically in nine seven things were terrible for me. Uh.
(06:53):
I was battling alcoholism, I was battling panic attacks. My
mom had just died, I lost my record deal. I
had made an album called Animal Rights that was a
complete failure, Like it got terrible reviews, no one came
to the tour, sold nothing. So when I released the
album play, I thought my career was done. You know,
(07:14):
I thought this was going to be my last record.
My friend Daniel Miller at Mute Records was only I
felt he was releasing it sort of like as a
pity favor to me. And when it started doing well,
it was so surprising. And really the turning point for
me personally was when uh, the director Danny Boyle contacted
(07:38):
me to use one of the songs in the movie
The Beach with Leo DiCaprio, and I was like, wait,
I'm supposed to be a failure, Like this is supposed
to be my obscure last album. How does Danny Boyle
know who I am? And why does he want to
use my music in a movie with Leo DiCaprio. Keeping
in mind this was Leo's first movie after Titanic, So
(07:59):
that was time where I was like, Okay, this might
not be my last album and it might not be
a failure. I also remember, too infamously eminem incorporated you
into one of his lyrics, which I'm sure even uh
maybe a wear this level for people just took it
to to another level, and it was something about he
was talking about something about with E D M music
(08:20):
or nobody listening to it. And now, of course it
seems infused in every genre of music. So you were
away ahead of your time. But looking back, do you
find the irony kind of funny with that? Um? I mean,
there's the funny thing with the eminem discs. I've always
thought he's like remarkably talented, clearly very intelligent. And when
(08:41):
he and I had our feud, I thought it was
a joke, right, I was just kidding. I met him
at an MTV Music Awards and he kind of tried
to attack me, and I was like what, Like, I
thought this was supposed to be funny, Like I thought
we were just sort of like lighthearted and round. Um especially,
(09:02):
And in a way, I almost feel bad if I
like hurt his feelings because I've always thought he was
like this very talented, very intelligent guy. Um. There is,
of course the irony is in that song he says
that I'm too old. Keeping in mind that was twenty
two years ago, and aging is a process that happens
(09:24):
to all of us, but obviously quantitatively Marshall Mathers is
quite a lot older than I was at that point
when I was too old. I love it, man, I
love it. What about today's music, mob we are? What
are you listening to these days? That's a good question,
and I have a very embarrassing answer. Um. So, when
(09:47):
when I got Spotify on my phone, I thought to myself, Great,
now I can say I can stay so up to
date with what's going on in the rest of the
musical world. I can listen to all the new releases.
I pretty much only listen to music that I was
listening to a high school. That's so funny that you
say that, because I actually I was making some um
playlists on Spotify and I'm like, damn, I gotta mix
(10:09):
it up because I keep putting the same songs on
my playlist. It different playlists, and I'm like, I gotta
mix it up a little bit more. And so I've
been trying to get better. It's funny. So I feel
better that you're saying that rock one rock stupid. You know,
speaking of yacht rock rock, I just went down a
(10:30):
really deep yacht rock rabbit hole. Good for you, some
friends of mine. Um, because my friend Free didn't know
what yacht rock was. And I was like, oh, and
so it wasn't just the music, it was contextualizing it.
Like and for anyone in whose one room what that means,
I'm like, just look at a picture of Seals and
(10:50):
Croft and you will understand. Absolutely. Okay, I love it.
Moby knows what's up. Congratulations a man on everything that's
going on. The doc sounds fascinating. And listen watch Moby
Doc which is in theaters on Moby. Thanks for checking in.
Nice meeting you, oh my pledge, You're really nice talking
with you. Take care. On with Mario Lopez
Tori A little bit you on Mario Lopez Join me
now on Zoom Recording Icon, Moby, Welcome to the show Man.
How are you? I'm good. I mean I almost feel
guilty having nothing to really complain about, but generally speaking,
I have not. I feel like I have nothing to
complained about. I love that I am with you. There
more people should be um vocal about, you know, things
(00:22):
being good could couldn't could inspire others. Where are we
talking to you from today? I well, I was born
and raised in New York, but I moved to l
A about twelve years ago. So I'm here in Los
Felis in l A. Um, you can't really see it outside,
but I'm just right at the base of Griffiths Observatory.
Oh nice, that's a fun, cool area. How do you like?
How do you like l A? Well? I think that
(00:45):
I moved here for a reason that is so weird. Um.
I mean, obviously, for quite a long time people have
moved to l A either for like career, networking, what
have you. I'm moved here because there's a lot of
nature here. That's a good that's a good h that's
a good reason. The the climates always nice, especially if
(01:07):
you're into nature, you know. Um, yeah, so I moved here.
I didn't move here to go to red carpet events.
I didn't move here to network with agents. I moved
here so I could go hiking in the mountains in
February wearing jeans and a T shirt. Definitely can do that. Um,
congrats on the new movie, Moby Doc. You're not just
the subject, you're the writer in narrator, Why did you
(01:29):
want to tell the story this way? Well, I mean
because on one hand, it seems like it could just
be a really gratuitous exercise in narcissism, you know, like
producing a movie about myself seems like the most self
involved narcissistic thing anyone could do. But the reason I
(01:49):
wanted to make it was I got sober around twelve
years ago, and after getting sober, I started going to
a meetings and twelve Step meetings, and my favorite thing
about them was hearing people's stories, you know, going to
church basements, uh, going to weird I got sober in
a yoga studio, but hearing strangers tell their stories about
(02:12):
their struggles, about their experience of the human condition. And
so the goal of the movie is really just me
telling my story very specifically about trying to fix internal
issues with external things like fame or success, and how
like for me, like for a lot of people trying
(02:33):
to fix internal issues with external things didn't work. I'm
sure that was very therapeutic and will help a lot
of people because it sounds really relatable. UM. Filmmaker David
Lynch is one of the interviews in the dock. Had
that friendship start? Well, I mean, I've been an obsessive
fan of David Lynch since he made a racer head.
(02:54):
And you know, I loved twin Peaks, I loved blue velvet,
I loved Inland and Higher. I mean, he's I love
pretty much everything he's done and about. I guess twelve
years ago we became friends. I learned how to meditate
in his studio. As strange as that sounds, UM. I
even my wedding gift to him at his last wedding
(03:16):
was to DJ at his wedding, and so for part
of the wedding, he and I DJ together and there's
this very odd, surreal moment of me and David Lynch
standing next to each other djaying uh. And then we
made videos for each other we did remixes for each other.
And in making Moby Doc, I wanted it to be
(03:36):
unconventional because, as you know, a lot of music documentaries
are just interviews and it gets a little repetitive and
little boring. And so in Moby Doc there's only one
person interviewed, and that's David Lynch. That's cool man. Look
forward to UH checking it out there. UMU. As far
(03:57):
as music, I know you've got a new album coming
out on the twenty eight You've teamed up with an
orchestra to recreate some of your greatest hits. How did
How did that change the arranging process? It basically because
most of the music I've made in my life has
just been me alone in my studio. I have a
small studio. I love working there, but it's just me
(04:18):
by myself. Whereas making this record reprise, there was an
orchestra in Hungary, there was a string quartet in Los Angeles.
There's a gospel choir, there's percussionists, there's drummers, there's so
many different singers. So it was this approach to making
music that was so different than how I normally work.
But ultimately, as you know, the goal of music is
(04:41):
to communicate emotion, you know, whether it's made by one
person or an orchestra. The only real criteria by which
you can judge music is how someone feels emotionally when
they listen to it. It can take you back. It
could just conjure up so much nostalgia memories. Now I
love that about it. Um, do you land on on
going on tour? And if so, will you bring an orchestra? Well? So,
(05:06):
a few things. One. Uh, when I was growing up,
I thought that being a touring musician would be the
greatest thing in the world. And I won't complain about it,
but what I can say is I spent decades touring
and now one of my primary goals in life is
to stay home, you know, like I love waking up
(05:27):
in my bed every morning, like making a smoothie, reading
the New York Times, even though I live in Los Angeles,
going for a hike. So if I can avoid touring,
I will very happily avoid touring. Luckily, the logistics of
trying to tour with an orchestral album, Like, it's hard
to go on tour with a hundred and thirty piece orchestra. Yeah,
(05:50):
that's talking about rolling deep as the kids would say,
do you ever do like a residency somewhere? Well, I
might do. What I found is there are orchestras you
can perform with. So at some point I might, you know,
do a tour where it's basically just me and a
couple of singers, and we go to Berlin, we go
(06:11):
to Paris, we go to London, we go to Sydney,
you know, play with like big local orchestras. Um. But still,
if I can avoid that it just stay home and
open my bed every morning. I'm really happy. Now I'm
with you. There, I'm at that age, so I'm with you.
Um Malvie. I think it was about we really at
(06:31):
least kind of be a wearing. This level was high
for me and and I think everything changed with the
album play. And was there a moment that you realized, Wow,
this this is a game changer. This is my life's
gonna be different from this point on. Yeah. Well, so
basically in nine seven things were terrible for me. Uh.
(06:53):
I was battling alcoholism, I was battling panic attacks. My
mom had just died, I lost my record deal. I
had made an album called Animal Rights that was a
complete failure, Like it got terrible reviews, no one came
to the tour, sold nothing. So when I released the
album play, I thought my career was done. You know,
(07:14):
I thought this was going to be my last record.
My friend Daniel Miller at Mute Records was only I
felt he was releasing it sort of like as a
pity favor to me. And when it started doing well,
it was so surprising. And really the turning point for
me personally was when uh, the director Danny Boyle contacted
(07:38):
me to use one of the songs in the movie
The Beach with Leo DiCaprio, and I was like, wait,
I'm supposed to be a failure, Like this is supposed
to be my obscure last album. How does Danny Boyle
know who I am? And why does he want to
use my music in a movie with Leo DiCaprio. Keeping
in mind this was Leo's first movie after Titanic, So
(07:59):
that was time where I was like, Okay, this might
not be my last album and it might not be
a failure. I also remember, too infamously eminem incorporated you
into one of his lyrics, which I'm sure even uh
maybe a wear this level for people just took it
to to another level, and it was something about he
was talking about something about with E D M music
(08:20):
or nobody listening to it. And now, of course it
seems infused in every genre of music. So you were
away ahead of your time. But looking back, do you
find the irony kind of funny with that? Um? I mean,
there's the funny thing with the eminem discs. I've always
thought he's like remarkably talented, clearly very intelligent. And when
(08:41):
he and I had our feud, I thought it was
a joke, right, I was just kidding. I met him
at an MTV Music Awards and he kind of tried
to attack me, and I was like what, Like, I
thought this was supposed to be funny, Like I thought
we were just sort of like lighthearted and round. Um especially,
(09:02):
And in a way, I almost feel bad if I
like hurt his feelings because I've always thought he was
like this very talented, very intelligent guy. Um. There is,
of course the irony is in that song he says
that I'm too old. Keeping in mind that was twenty
two years ago, and aging is a process that happens
(09:24):
to all of us, but obviously quantitatively Marshall Mathers is
quite a lot older than I was at that point
when I was too old. I love it, man, I
love it. What about today's music, mob we are? What
are you listening to these days? That's a good question,
and I have a very embarrassing answer. Um. So, when
(09:47):
when I got Spotify on my phone, I thought to myself, Great,
now I can say I can stay so up to
date with what's going on in the rest of the
musical world. I can listen to all the new releases.
I pretty much only listen to music that I was
listening to a high school. That's so funny that you
say that, because I actually I was making some um
playlists on Spotify and I'm like, damn, I gotta mix
(10:09):
it up because I keep putting the same songs on
my playlist. It different playlists, and I'm like, I gotta
mix it up a little bit more. And so I've
been trying to get better. It's funny. So I feel
better that you're saying that rock one rock stupid. You know,
speaking of yacht rock rock, I just went down a
(10:30):
really deep yacht rock rabbit hole. Good for you, some
friends of mine. Um, because my friend Free didn't know
what yacht rock was. And I was like, oh, and
so it wasn't just the music, it was contextualizing it.
Like and for anyone in whose one room what that means,
I'm like, just look at a picture of Seals and
(10:50):
Croft and you will understand. Absolutely. Okay, I love it.
Moby knows what's up. Congratulations a man on everything that's
going on. The doc sounds fascinating. And listen watch Moby
Doc which is in theaters on Moby. Thanks for checking in.
Nice meeting you, oh my pledge, You're really nice talking
with you. Take care. On with Mario Lopez
Host
Mario Lopez
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