Hit single
Moby says he’s happy living alone as he releases his beautiful, troubled new album
He is a musical pioneer who has sold more than 20 million albums. And David Bowie, New Order and Britney Spears were among those who called on Moby’s remix skills after he emerged from the New York hardcore punk scene as a self-contained, chart-smashing electro star 20 years ago.
In 2010, Moby moved from
New York to LA leaving behind the drink and drug excess that had been a feature of his life since childhood.
“I started doing drugs and drinking when I was 10,” says Moby, now 52. “By the time I was 13 I’d already had some bad experiences. The older I got, alcohol and drugs were the only good things in my life – they were the only things that consistently and predictably worked. I was getting sick and I couldn’t have relationships, I was depressed and I was anxious, but I could always take comfort in alcohol and drugs.
“The problem was that the hangovers started lasting 36 or 48 hours, and it got to the point I couldn’t even really string sentences together. I was sleeping until five or six in the afternoon every day thanks to Xanax and Vicodin.”
As he releases his moving but troubled new album Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt, Moby is making another break with his past by selling 99% of the records and musical equipment that have fuelled his career.
“I moved house recently and I had the practical thought that I haven’t played these records in a long time, and most of the musical equipment I have I haven’t used in a long time.
“So the idea is to sell everything and give the money to this organisation I work with called the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine.”
In his 2016 memoir Porcelain, Moby recounted an extraordinary life journey from poverty to popularity, through a series of mismatched relationships.
“I’m single and middleaged. I come home to an empty house. There is a wistfulness where you imagine, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a house where there’s someone who loves me and has my best interests at heart?’ But there’s a lot of flexibility that comes with being single. It’s a trade-off.”
Raised by a single mother (his father died when he was two) Moby has no wish to be a parent.
“In the past I would give lip service to it,” he admits, “but it always just seemed more like a pleasant idea than something I wanted. It’s easy to not have a kid, but it’s a hard thing to say in public. I’m really happy without children.”
‘I haven’t used most of my music equipment in a long time so the idea is to sell everything’