MORE BIG IDEAS To find more information about these speakers and the rest of The Ideas Festival, visit www. aspenideas.org.
HS: When I think of your more “atmospheric” music, with its combination of varying elements, what do you think others are resonating with? For me, it’s like being suspended in water…
HS: Do you consider yourself an existentialist? MOBY: A big part of the human condition is our inability to have objective understanding of the universe in which we live. That’s the existential crisis. How do we make sense of the universe that seems to be 15 billion years old with our limited intellect and perception? The question is … how do we respond? Some people respond to that dilemma with despair. Some with elation or indifference. Not to sound too much like a grad student but to a large extent, we are all existentialists whether we know it or not.
WHEN HE SPEAKS: “MOBY In Conversation” will be held at 7:30 p.m. on June 29 at Belly Up.
Every time someone logs onto Facebook to see what their friends are up to they’re turning their back on the existential void. I accept that the universe is vast and beyond our comprehension and try not to be too concerned with it.
MOBY: This is going to sound esoteric and I don’t want to sound like a new age grad student, but a friend of mine has this idea that we have a bunch of different selves — our external selves that tend to be tough, cynical, aggressive. And a lot of pop culture plays to those selves — vanity and anger, cynicism. I have certainly made some music that plays to those, but I think the music that resonates with me the most is music that plays to a deeper self that is more vulnerable, more honest and more genuinely emotional- not covered in the armor of cynicism and anger.
HS: Does this quell the nerves before a big show? Knowing that you are part of this system which is incomprehensible and absurd to try to rationalize?
HS: Yes. It lends itself to a beautiful solitary moment. There’s something about it that makes me want to take a leisurely stroll through The Tuillerie Gardens…
MOBY: I don’t really get nervous performing anymore. Looking at the audience and being filled with a friendly, endearing sense of solidarity and compassion with people who, like me, are blindly stumbling along … Spending a couple of hours in a room with a bunch of other people and helping them feel better in the face of the existential void, then that seems pretty good to me.
MOBY: It comes from a more vulnerable place. That’s what resonates with me. We’re encouraged to buy into notions of youth and vanity. We spend so much time constructing those selves that the more honest, vulnerable selves get neglected. It’s when we find music or art or another person to connect with … then we respond even more powerfully.
“RODIN ONCE SAID, HE STARTS WITH A PIECE OF ROCK AND CHIPS AWAY AT EVERYTHING THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE WHAT HE’S TRYING TO SCULPT. MY APPROACH IS SORT OF REDUCTIONIST. WORK ON MUSIC UNTIL YOU END UP WITH SOMETHING THAT HAS AN EMOTIONAL QUALITY THAT I FIND COMPELLING.”
MOBY
MUSICIAN Moby is a musician and DJ. Currently he’s touring in support of his most recent album, “Destroyed,” as well as working closely with a variety of different charities, including the Humane Society and the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. Moby released his first single, “Go,” in 1991 and has been making albums ever since. His own records have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and he also has produced and remixed scores of other artists, including David Bowie, Metallica, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, among others. Moby has toured extensively, playing more than 3,000 concerts in his career.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
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