March 8, 2005
Moby, the multi-talented musician, writer and entrepreneur, in an on-stage conversation with composer Reinhold Heil at UCSB Campbell Hall
Summary Facts:
- Moby
- In a Conversation with Reinhold Heil
- Creative dynamo Moby has sold over 15 million albums worldwide
- Moby has just released his latest CD Hotel and TEANY BOOK: Stories, Food, Romance, Cartoons, and of Course, Tea
- Saturday, April 2
- 7 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
- General public $10 / UCSB students $8
- Tickets/Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535
Moby, originally an underground techno musician who became an influential cultural icon upon the release of his mega-selling 1999 CD Play, will take part in a fascinating on-stage conversation with composer Reinhold Heil on Saturday, April 2 at 7 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Moby and Heil will talk about the artistic process, discuss Moby’s new book about Teany, his New York café, and play tracks from his just-released CD Hotel.
Born Richard Melville Hall (he is nicknamed after the work of his famous ancestor Herman Melville), Moby has sold 15 million records and has earned gold, platinum and multi-platinum records in more than 30 countries. Although he began his musical career as a hardcore punk in Connecticut’s Vatican Commandos, he quickly became a major figure in the New York City dance scene, releasing to great acclaim the driving and irresistible singles “Next Is the E,” “Drop a Beat,” and “Go.” His 1995 major label debut with Elektra Everything Is Wrong was as wide-ranging as it was successful, bringing together ambient, techno and even hardcore thrash on one album. His controversial 1997 release Animal Rights surprised fans by shifting emphasis from dance electronics to heavier, aggressive rock. In 1999 Moby switched labels to V2 and released Play, a return to his electronica roots featuring tracks built on seductive samples from Alan Lomax blues and gospel recordings from the 1940s and ‘50s. The album sold almost 10 million copies worldwide. Its follow-up 18 was another hit upon its release in 2002.
Seeking a quiet place to sip some tea, nosh on vegetarian treats, and cavort with his friends and neighbors, Moby opened a vegetarian café and teahouse with his ex-girlfriend Kelly Tisdale. In 2002, Teany debuted on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and has since become a meeting place for downtown denizens, tea connoisseurs, hungry tourists and celebrities. In TEANY BOOK: Stories, Food, Romance, Cartoons, and of Course, Tea (Viking Studio; on-sale date March 24, 2005), Moby and Kelly compile their favorite recipes, stories, sights and sounds from inside the restaurant USA Today calls “warm, inviting, and lovely.” TEANY BOOK will be sure to delight foodies, tea drinkers and hipsters alike.
Moby’s new CD Hotel will be released by V2 records on March 22, 2005. The original release features the Hotel album and a limited edition CD entitled Hotel-Ambient. The new album continues in Moby’s tradition of making beautifully eclectic records. It runs the gamut from big-chorus stadium anthems (“Spiders,” “Lift Me Up”) to straight-forward electro-disco (“Very”) to ballads (“Forever”) to new-wave (“Where You End”), and everything in between. Moby explains the inspiration for the CD on his website: “Hotels in specific fascinate me in that so much effort is expended to maintain a perfect neutrality. And my hope in this record is not to celebrate or represent the vacuum-like neutrality of an empty hotel room, but rather to represent the part of the human condition that compels us to lead big and expansive and messy biological lives. I’m fascinated by the airless and lifeless neutrality of so many man-made spaces (empty airports, empty lobbies, empty office buildings, etc.), but I don’t feel like making music that is airless and lifeless because I also really like people and the messy miasma of the human condition and I want to make messy, human records that are open and emotional.”
For more information about Moby, please visit www.mobyhotel.com, www.moby.com and www.teany.com.
Reinhold Heil, a Santa Barbara resident, has been a major name in film composition since his involvement in the fast-paced soundtrack for Tom Tykwer’s film success Run Lola Run. Heil’s music career began in the late 1970s, when he was a founding member of the Nina Hagen Band and enjoyed major success with their debut, eponymous album, and with its follow-up Unbehagen. After time on the band Spliff and years of production work, Heil turned to film composing, often with partner Australian Johnny Klimek. Heil and Klimek have quickly established themselves in the American film scene, and were named in Variety’s elite “20 Creatives to Watch” in the film/tv/theatre/music world. Their scores include One Hour Photo, music for various episodes as well as the theme of Jerry Bruckheimer’s hit TV series Without a Trace and HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Deadwood.
Constantly on the edge of the latest music technology, Heil has tested innovative electronic musical instruments and studio equipment for leading music magazines in Germany. He is a pioneering Beta-tester for the MIDI software company Emagic (now Apple), has been working with the professional equipment department of Yamaha-Europe, and has conceptualized instrument designs for the German company Waldorf.
Courtesy of Borders, books and CDs by Moby will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Moby is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. Tickets for the event are $10 for the general public and $8 for UCSB students, who must show valid ID when purchasing tickets and at the door. Tickets are on sale now and can also be purchased at the door, if still available.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.