Musician and native New Yorker Moby comes clean in the new self-named documentary which he also wrote. He told NY1 the motivation behind writing the script himself.

What You Need To Know

  • Moby thought his most successful album, “Play,” would be his last as he battled alcoholism, drug addiction and depression

  • He remembered his younger days, and said being poor is something that stuck with him

  • Moby released a new album, “Reprise,” the same day his self-named documentary hit theaters 
 “On one hand it’s sharing my experience, strength, and hope like it’s a long qualification,” said Moby. “About 12 years ago I decided to get sober. I started going to 12-step meetings, you know, sitting in a basement somewhere in Lower Manhattan. Hearing people tell their stories was so powerful, so I thought that I would almost take that idea or that ethos and trying to make a documentary around it.”

Moby became a huge success with his fifth album “Play,” released in 1999. It would become the biggest-selling electronica album of all time with 12 million copies sold.

“I never expected to have anything even resembling a career as a musician,” he said. “Like, I didn't see it as even being in the realm of possibility.”

But success didn’t change Moby's life, saying: “I was battling alcoholism, drug addiction, panic attacks, depression, and I thought 'Play' was going to be my last album, and then it just kept getting bigger and bigger. It certainly didn't do much to diminish my addiction and narcissism.”

The documentary “Moby” dives into the musician’s upbringing with his mother. Moby grew up in Harlem and then moved to Darien, Connecticut, one of the richest communities in the United States. The memories of being poor in a rich community stayed with him.

“My mom and I were on food stamps,” Moby remembered. “And I just assumed everybody else in the world was stable, and relatively affluent, and we were poor. If you spend the first 18 years of your life being formed it's kind of hard to un-form yourself.”

Today, Moby keeps moving on with a new album releasing the same day as his documentary. The album is a orchestral arrangement of his biggest hits. Moby’s music career has allowed him to shed light on an issue close to his heart and soul: animal rights. As a vegan, Moby said he doesn’t want to inflict pain or suffering on innocent beings. But his passion runs much deeper.

“What I'm talking about is the behemoth of animal agriculture and how, in addition to killing animals and destroying animals, it's also destroying us,” Moby said. “I almost wish that we would see its role in pandemics and rain forests, deforestation and climate change in human health and antibiotic resistance on and on and on.”

The documentary “Moby” is playing in theaters. His new album “Reprise” is streaming.