‘Encountering Aliens’ With Moby

I interviewed Moby three years ago, when the previous album, “18,” was released. It has sold more than 500 million copies so far.

After the interview, I asked him about travel tips to his favorite places. Musicians sometimes get sick of being asked about music all the time, and we definitely got carried away with talking about travel. He first marked New York on the map, where he lives Then he pointed out west to California also the New England coastline and a few other places, drawing some illustrations as well.

Interestingly, Moby is a descendant of Herman Melville, and he is named after “Moby Dick, the whale in the novel that the protagonist, Captain Ahab, chased. Perhaps that’s why he seems to have an eye on the ocean all the time. He also marked Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, noting the best attraction in this area is not the national parks, but Roswell, in the countryside of New Mexico.

This is the place where a UFO reportedly crashed in 1947 and the dead body of an alien was retrieved. If you go there, you can see the alien for yourself.

After several months, I visited Roswell—the middle of nowhere. There are lots of fake aliens in the area around the “UFO museum,” quite an interesting way to promote the town. Later I found out the title of the album “18” was named after the number of the Air Force shed that carried the dead body of the alien.

The cutting edge; Moby’s works

Moby Hotel（Toshiba EMI)
Moby’s newest album released this year. The motif is a hotel where people often hang out. This album has a warmer, human feel (no aliens here).

Moby 18（V2 Records）
His previous album featuring a “cosmic” jacket. Some good dance music. The more you listen, the more you love it.

Moby Play（V2 Records）
This smash hit album sold more than one billion copies all over the world. Always sounds fresh—this is my autographed copy.

Moby Animal Rights（Elektra）
Although most people know Moby after “Play,” definitely check out this older rock album. He is a strict vegetarian and proponent for animal rights.