Moby's story begins in suburban obscurity, rises with rave, and leads
to talk of a record deal
Byline:   John D. Gonzalez
THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS   (GRPR)
Page:     b1
Day:      FRI
(Copyright 1993)
The Grand Rapids Press
     Richard Melville Hall is not your stereotypical raver. He's 27
years old. He doesn't do drugs. And he's a morning person.
     Yet Hall, better known to rave-dance fans as Moby, the DJ and
singer/keyboard player who has become the figurehead of rave - a
music phenomenon  that attracts mostly teen-agers, who dance
hypnotically until wee hours of the morning in an abandoned
warehouse or field.
     Moby has seen rave flourish in the United States in the last
couple of years. But Moby is in demand worldwide, too. He was
recently in Germany and Brazil, and he has performed in such dance
hot spots as the Rage in London, The Roxy in Amsterdam and Tresure
in Berlin.
     "(My notoriety) is kind of strange considering my lifestyle is
pretty far removed from the rave culture," Moby said recently by
phone from his apartment in the "little Italy" section of
Manhattan.
     Just three years ago, Moby was living in a warehouse and making
$10,000 a year as a club DJ. Now 10 grand seems like a decent hunk
of change, for a guy who can easily pull down 20 times that much in
this year's club dates alone.
     "(Popularity) did take me by surprise at first," said Moby, who
was busy cleaning his apartment after two weeks on the road. "Now at
this point I'm used to it. It's becoming the norm."
     Moby is far removed from the scene that embraces him. He grew
up in a Connecticut suburb listening to punk music. Rave and techno
music were born in the inner cities, not long after hip hop came
along in the early to mid '80s.
     "Four or five years ago this music was popular among
transvestites, Hispanics and blacks," Moby said. "Now it attracts
young people of all cultures."
     In the early '80s, Moby moved to New York where he played bass
in the punk band Vatican Commandoes. He started to work as a disc
jockey in 1984 and quickly became one of the city's hottest
nightclub DJs.
      It wasn't long before he was creating his own techno grooves
on a turntable. Then he began experimenting with keyboards and
synthesizers, which gave him two identities among music fans: the
leading DJ of rave and a performer.
     As a DJ and performer, Moby is known for his propulsive tempos,
large bass, repetitive beats and trance-like cuts.
     The rave culture knows him TONIGHT MOBY, with opening act FADE
2 BLACK and other "rave" DJs, 8 p.m. at Club Eastbrook. Tickets are
$15 at the Eastbrook box office. Tickets are also available through
TicketMaster, with a service charge, at the Grand Center, The Vinyl
Solution, Believe in Music, Harmony House, Hudson's and Stage Door
in Breton Village. Charge tickets at 456-3333.through his 1990 EP
"Mobility" on Instinct Records and a slew of singles he has released
under pseudonyms like Voodoo Child, Brainstorm, UHF and Barracuda.
Now his work could get wider recognition.
     Moby is getting ready for his major label debut this fall with
a release on Elektra Records. Although he has not signed the
contract, Moby said, "It looks fairly promising."
     For a scene that thrives on the independent and underground
releases, Moby is preparing to hear some die-hard rave fans call him
a sellout.
     "I'm sure there will be some backlash, but at the same time I
can't think too seriously about that," Moby said. "The only
important
 see MOBY, B2 MOBY Rave figurehead doesn't fit the lifestyle B1
thing is the quality of the music. If the music is compromised in
some way because I'm at a major label, then the critics will have
their grounds. I think the purists in the world seem to live pretty
frustrated lives."
     The major label affiliation actually will make it easier for
serious fans to find the records, Moby said.
     "I have some reservations about being at a major label, like
things moving slowly, but the nice thing about it will be that if
anyone wants to buy the record they'll be able to do so."
     If anything, Moby - who is the great-great-great nephew of
"Moby Dick" author Herman Melville, really - likes to think of his
rise to fame in the rave culture as result of paying his dues.
     "How did I get to this point? I know this is going to sound
boring," Moby said, "but it was hard work and doing the things I
enjoy."