Re: What inspires you?

Description: Moby works in solitude till inspiration hits.

Transcript:

You know, I tend to work alone. And I’m sort . . . a weird little autodidact. So I don’t have . . . I mean there are a lot of people whose music I really like. And there are a lot of people whose worldview I respect; but I can’t think of anyone who’s been a big inspiration or that I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from.

The one thing I’m doing when inspiration hits is I’m sitting in my studio playing guitar or playing keyboards or sitting in front of the computer. But as long as I’m there, that way I can capture it and I can document it. And it becomes sort of almost like an ascetic, monastic vocation. You know? Like it’s just me alone in my small studio, which is sort of like a monastic cell. And I at some point . . . I mean, they’ll do document . . . documentaries on musicians. Like a behind the music on the dramatic things that are involved in making a record. And for me it would be the most tedious documentary in the world because it’s just me sitting in a chair in front of a computer or in front of a keyboard, and there’s really not a lot going on.This might sound really narcissistic, but most of the music I listen to is music that I’m currently working on. ‘Cause I have to be sort of constantly evaluating it. When I listen to other people’s music, it tends to be music that was made a long time ago. So I listen to a lot of gospel music and blues from the early 20th century, and a lot of 19th century and 18th century classical music. As far as contemporary music, I like it; but I don’t necessarily like it enough to wanna bring it into my home, you know. If I’m out in a bar, or out in a nightclub, I’ll hear music and I’ll think, “Oh, that’s nice.” But rarely does it affect me so much that I wanna make it a part of my life.Recorded On: 5/27/07