God of small things - Moby interview

HE MAY have a bird's eye view of David Bowie's brownstone across the street, and Jay-Z in residence just around the corner, but as Moby enjoys some down time in his lower Manhattan pad, he's most keen to talk about an altogether different scene.

"What's it called again? King's mount? King's throne?"

Arthur's Seat?

"Yeah, yeah… that's it. Arthur's Seat," he laughs. "Sorry, it's been a while."

Moby's love of all things Scottish began almost 20 years ago. His return later this month, to play a DJ set in the capital's Liquid Room before an acoustic set in Glasgow (in a venue yet to be announced and voted for online by his fans) is, he concedes, "something special". Not least because his arrival comes at a time of rediscovery for a man who created some of the most recognisable dance tunes of the late '90s.

He was already a big name on the rave scene with the progressive house track, 'Go', but it was Moby's 1999 album, Play, that launched him to superstardom. The consequent transfer of some of his biggest hits into the world of films, TV and commercials would complete the transition and make him a household name. Down-tempo, ambient albums, 18 in 2002 and Hotel in 2005, followed.

Then something changed. Moby – otherwise known as 42-year-old Richard Melville Hall – got bored. Increasingly tired of the endless touring, he missed the "spontaneity" in his performance and saw something in New York's current dance scene that he wanted to respond to.

"I came home (to New York] after touring and somewhere inside I just woke up. I started DJing again, and found that I really enjoyed playing intimate gigs," he says. "One-off gigs in smaller venues, instead of living on a tour bus, just seemed to make more sense somehow."

He spent months trawling Manhattan's Lower East Side, the result of which is his latest album, Last Night, an upbeat mix of dance, disco and hip hop.

"I saw this resurgence happening on the New York dance scene and liked the idea of celebrating the heyday of some of the music that had shaped a certain time in my life," he says. "I guess you could say the genesis for the album came from me looking back at my own history. As a teenager, I was introduced to hip hop, electronic, disco and reggae: I wanted to bring all of that."

The result is impressive: tracks such as 'Live For Tomorrow' have the kind of sweeping dramatics of early Massive Attack, while his appreciation of all things Erasure, New Order and Primal Scream are easily recognisable on tracks like 'Everyday It's 1989' and 'I'm In Love'.

Outwith the studio, while Moby is still "happy enough" to play the "odd festival", more intimate – and often secret – acoustic gigs and DJ sets are very much what he prefers. And Scottish audiences can enjoy a bit of both later this month when he performs in Edinburgh for the first time in eight years and Glasgow for the first time in three.

"Scotland is one of my favourite places to perform: it's really something special. Scottish audiences are just so enthusiastic; their approach to dance music just feels similar to my own somehow. They know how to have fun and know it's not about the clothes they wear or the venue you play in, it's about the music. It's not often you feel that from an audience."

Moby first experienced Scotland as an impressionable twenty-something while backpacking around the Highlands with his then girlfriend in 1989. It was his first proper holiday outside the States and the experience left its mark. "I remember arriving off the plane for the first time, way before Play came out. We took the train up north to Inverness and just explored. I immediately felt connected to the beauty of the place: it's impossible not to fall in love with it. Now when I come back for gigs or to see friends in Glasgow and Edinburgh there just never seems to be enough time somehow. I'd love to be able to spend more time there."

Moby has never been shy of controversy wherever he is in the world. An outspoken vegan, Gospel-follower and animal rights campaigner, he's given his backing to anti-war movements such as MoveOn and had a very public face-off with Eminem in 2002 at the MTV Awards.

Around the same time the self-confessed "ordinary-looking guy" became a hate target for Star Wars fans when he briefly dated Hollywood stunner Natalie Portman, who played Luke Skywalker's mother, Queen Padmé Amidala, in the film's prequels. More recently, he has professed a surprising soft spot for Britney Spears, allegedly telling one American interviewer he would like to marry her. "I was trying to be funny, but needless to say it attracted the attention of the global media," he laughs. "I have to be honest though, I like a girl with a little damage. Forget pristine Britney, I prefer the fat, slovenly Britney. What can I say? I like a challenge."

Where spontaneity has led Moby, the media have followed. This January, he decided to busk with his friend Joy outside Sloane Street tube station in London "just for fun". He admits quite happily that some of the commuters barely recognised his now famous bespectacled face and bald head, under the scarf and hat needed to fight off the winter chill; others stared in bemusement as the man who has previously collaborated with the likes of Michael Stipe, Lou Reed and David Bowie ad libbed his way through a seemingly impromptu set for no good reason other than a whim. He pocketed £7 and priceless column inches.

More recently in Belgium, while "bored" on tour, he suggested a quiet acoustic gig in a local bar on his night off. The local press got wind of it and within an hour the street hosting the event had to be closed off to cope with the public demand. It is, says Moby, an occasional paradox. "It's funny. I've been making records for a long time now but I still find it disconcerting to think of myself as a public figure," he admits. "I know a lot of musicians who think about how glam a gig will be or how much money they'll make, but I don't care about that: I just love the thrill of making music.

"My record label put up with a lot, I guess, but they just throw their hands up and let me get on with it.

Born in Connecticut but raised in part in New York, Moby admits he was always searching for the next thing. By the age of nine he had mastered the classical guitar, later he would perfect the craft of keyboard, guitar, bass guitar and drums. As a musician, he says he is always "striving".

"It's hard, some days you want to achieve more. I don't know many artists who are happy with themselves all of the time. But for now, I just take each day as it comes. I just want to play my gigs, enjoy Scotland, climb Arthur's Seat and take in the view."

Moby plays at a venue still to be decided in Glasgow on July 22, and DJs at Last Night in Edinburgh, the Liquid Room, July 26. The album, Last Night, is out nowwww.moby.com