Editing Moby (section)

==Early life and influences==
Richard Melville Hall was born September 11, 1965, in the neighborhood of [[Harlem]] in Manhattan, New York City. He is an only child of Elizabeth McBride (''née'' Warner), a medical secretary, and James Frederick Hall ([[Plainfield, New Jersey|Plainfield]], 16 August 1941 - [[Plainfield, New Jersey|Plainfield]], 23 September 1967), a chemistry professor, who died in a car crash while drunk when Moby was two.<ref name=TI05>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/moby-i-am-a-messy-human-being-and-i-dont-have-a-problem-admitting-it-4325.html|title=Moby: 'I am a messy human being, and I don't have a problem admitting|date=March 5, 2005|work=The Independent|first=Nick|last=Duerden|access-date=April 8, 2019|archive-date=April 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408151711/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/moby-i-am-a-messy-human-being-and-i-dont-have-a-problem-admitting-it-4325.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=TG14/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cujamison.home.comcast.net/~cujamison/genhtm/genfrance.htm |title=Genealogy of Claire and Alex Jamison |publisher=Cujamison.home.comcast.net |access-date=April 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005015831/http://cujamison.home.comcast.net/~cujamison/genhtm/genfrance.htm |archive-date=October 5, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=TG160521>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/21/moby-bags-drugs-having-sex-stranger-miranda-sawyer|title=Moby: 'There were bags of drugs, I was having sex with a stranger'|date=May 21, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=November 25, 2018|first=Miranda|last=Sawyer|archive-date=November 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126180800/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/21/moby-bags-drugs-having-sex-stranger-miranda-sawyer|url-status=live}}</ref> His father gave him the nickname Moby three days after his birth as his parents considered the name Richard too large for a newborn baby. The name was also a reference to the ancestry Hall says he was told by his family,<ref name="THC95">{{cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1995-03-12-9503100066-story.html|title=Moby: Remixed, repulsed...reborn?|first=Roger|last=Catlin|date=March 12, 1995|newspaper=The Hartford Courant|pages=G1, G4|location=Connecticut|access-date=April 8, 2019|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190522180310/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1995-03-12-9503100066-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Moby in {{cite news|first=Mark |last=Scheerer |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/08/moby/ |title=DJ Moby finds inspiration in old Southern music |publisher=CNN |date=February 9, 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922161411/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/08/moby/ |archive-date=September 22, 2006|quote=The basis for Richard Melville Hall — and for Moby — is that supposedly Herman Melville was my great-great-great-granduncle.}}</ref> though he is not directly related to [[Herman Melville]], author of ''[[Moby-Dick]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Genealogy Detective: Moby and Herman: Part Three - The Chase |url=https://genealogydetective.libsyn.com/moby-and-herman-part-3-the-chase |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=The Genealogy Detective |language=en-US |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928195602/https://genealogydetective.libsyn.com/moby-and-herman-part-3-the-chase |url-status=live }}</ref> Moby is distantly related to [[David Melville (inventor)|David Melville]], inventor of the first United States-patented gas light system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Descendants of David Melvill of Boston, Massachusetts and Newport, Rhode Island |url=https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/descendants-of-david-melvill-of-boston-ma |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=AmericanAncestors.org |language=en |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928195603/https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/descendants-of-david-melvill-of-boston-ma |url-status=live }}</ref>

Moby was raised by his mother, first in San Francisco from 1969 for a short period. He recalled being sexually abused by a staff member at his daycare during this time.<ref name=KQED19>{{cite web|url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13855452/how-it-fell-apart-moby-talks-new-memoir-addiction-and-trauma|title=How It 'Fell Apart': Moby Talks New Memoir, Addiction and Trauma|first=Nastia|last=Voynovskaya|date=April 23, 2019|publisher=KQED|access-date=May 4, 2019|archive-date=May 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504130106/https://www.kqed.org/arts/13855452/how-it-fell-apart-moby-talks-new-memoir-addiction-and-trauma|url-status=live}}</ref> This was followed by a move to [[Darien, Connecticut]],<ref name=NYT11/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/62744246.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+19%2C+2000&author=Joan+Anderman%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=ACCIDENTAL+ROCK+STAR%3F+MOBY'S+MIX+PLAYS+WELL&pqatl=google |title=Accidental Rock Star? Moby's Mix Plays Well |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date=October 19, 2000 |access-date=April 1, 2012 |first=Joan |last=Anderman |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725101428/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/62744246.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+19%2C+2000&author=Joan+Anderman%2C+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=ACCIDENTAL+ROCK+STAR%3F+MOBY'S+MIX+PLAYS+WELL&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}</ref> living in a squat with "three or four other drug-addicted hippies, with bands playing in the basement."<ref name=TG16 /> The two then moved to [[Stratford, Connecticut]], for a brief time.<ref name=HA00>{{cite web|url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/moby-3|title=Moby|first=David|last=Bennun|work=Hot Air|date=Summer 2000|via=[[Rock's Backpages]]|access-date=April 14, 2019|archive-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414182504/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/moby-3|url-status=live}}</ref> His mother struggled to support her son, often relying on food stamps and government welfare.<ref name=TI05/> They occasionally stayed with Moby's grandparents in Darien, but the affluence of the [[Connecticut]] suburb made him feel poor and ashamed.<ref name=TG16/> Shortly before his mother's death in 1997, Moby learned from her that he has a half brother.<ref name=TG16/> His first job was a caddy at a golf course.<ref name=NPR08>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89237216|title=Is Moby's Music Still Good When Its Free?|publisher=National Public Radio|date=March 31, 2008|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416150659/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89237216|url-status=live}}</ref>

Moby took up music at the age of nine.<ref name=PT04/> He started on classical guitar and received piano lessons from his mother<ref name=THC95/> before studying jazz, music theory, and percussion. In 1983, he became the guitarist in a [[hardcore punk]] band, the [[Vatican Commandos]], playing on their debut EP ''Hit Squad for God''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Moby reuniting w/ Vatican Commandos for a CT NYC hardcore show + D.I. dates, boat shows, 45 Grave, Jello & more|url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/moby-reuniting/|website=[[Brooklyn Vegan]]|date=May 12, 2010 |access-date=June 2, 2016|archive-date=June 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625013639/http://www.brooklynvegan.com/moby-reuniting/|url-status=live}}</ref> Around this time he was the lead vocalist for [[Flipper (band)|Flipper]] for two days; Moby played bass for their reunion shows in the 2000s.<ref name=V13/> Moby formed a [[post-punk]] group named AWOL around the time of his eighteenth birthday. He is credited on their only release, a self-titled EP, as Moby Hall.<ref name=NYT02>{{cite web|last=Marzorati|first=Gerald|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/17/magazine/all-by-himself.html|title=All by Himself|work=The New York Times|date=March 17, 2002|access-date=January 19, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119174359/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/17/magazine/all-by-himself.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1983, Moby graduated from [[Darien High School]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://darienite.com/music-star-moby-a-former-darien-resident-coming-to-stamford-to-talk-about-his-new-memoir-10568|title=Moby, a Former Darien Resident, Coming to Stamford to Talk About His New Memoir|date=May 12, 2016|work=Darienite|first=David|last=Gurliacci|access-date=April 9, 2019|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804023635/https://darienite.com/music-star-moby-a-former-darien-resident-coming-to-stamford-to-talk-about-his-new-memoir-10568|url-status=live}}</ref> and started a philosophy degree at the [[University of Connecticut]] in [[Storrs, Connecticut]]. Around this time he had found the instruments he had learned "sonically limiting" and moved to electronic music.<ref name=TVS95>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/495628331/|title=Moby there's a better way|first=Katherine|last=Monk|page=C8|newspaper=The Vancouver Sun|date=June 22, 1995|access-date=May 11, 2019|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=June 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614045353/https://www.newspapers.com/image/495628331/|url-status=live}}</ref> He spun records at the campus radio station [[WHUS]], which led to DJ work in local clubs and bars.<ref name=THC95/> Moby grew increasingly unhappy at university, however, and transferred to [[State University of New York at Purchase]], studying philosophy and photography, to try and renew his interest in studying. He dropped out in April 1984 to pursue DJing and music full-time, which started his interest in [[electronic dance music]].<ref name=TI05/><ref name=F97/><ref name=HC97>{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1997-03-05-9703050028-story.html|title=Moby Returns to Rock After Techno Years|first=Roger|last=Catlin|newspaper=The Hartford Courant|date=March 5, 1997|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=December 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204031816/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3ARKeLJRMtxJEJ%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.courant.com%2Fnews%2Fconnecticut%2Fhc-xpm-1997-03-05-9703050028-story.html+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk|url-status=live}}</ref> For two years he lived in [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], where he DJ'd at The Cafe, an under-21 nightclub at the back of a church.<ref name=HC08>{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-10-18-0510180608-story.html|title=Little idiot makes it big|first=Adrian|last=Brune|work=The Hartford Courant|date=October 18, 2005|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=December 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204031810/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A6x4c9u5KiQkJ%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.courant.com%2Fnews%2Fconnecticut%2Fhc-xpm-2005-10-18-0510180608-story.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=MW/> In 1987, he started to send demos of his music to record labels in New York City; he failed to receive an offer, which led to a two-year period of "very fruitless labor".<ref name=MW/> Around 1988, Moby moved into a semi-abandoned factory in [[Stamford, Connecticut]], that had no bathroom or running water, but the free electricity supply allowed him to work on his music,<ref name=HC97/> using a 4-track recorder, synthesizer, and drum machine.<ref name=BM12>{{cite web|url=https://believermag.com/an-interview-with-moby/|title=An Interview with Moby|work=The Believer|first=Andy|last=Beta|date=July 1, 2012|access-date=May 11, 2019|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511184202/https://believermag.com/an-interview-with-moby/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Moby cites English band [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]] (OMD) as "heroes", without whom he would never have begun making electronic music.<ref>{{cite book|last=Houghton|first=Richard|date=2019|title=OMD: Pretending to See the Future|edition=expanded paperback|publisher=This Day in Music Books|pages=370–371|isbn=978-1-9161156-2-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Shey|first=Brittanie|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/march-madness-6587862|title=March Madness|website=[[Houston Press]]|date=March 23, 2011|access-date=May 29, 2023|archive-date=May 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523053901/https://www.houstonpress.com/music/march-madness-6587862|url-status=live}}</ref> His other formative influences include [[Nick Drake]], [[Suicide (band)|Suicide]], [[Silver Apples]], [[Eric B. & Rakim]], and [[Public Enemy]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Turner|first=Luke|url=https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/moby-favourite-albums-baker-s-dozen/|title=Corrupting Sonic DNA: Moby's Favourite Albums|website=[[The Quietus]]|date=September 24, 2013|access-date=March 6, 2021|archive-date=May 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515191004/https://thequietus.com/interviews/bakers-dozen/moby-favourite-albums-baker-s-dozen/|url-status=live}}</ref>