Moby

INTERVIEW: SIAN THATCHER

The dance music legend reveals the beauty of trashy hotels, and tells us why he’s going to be hanging out with David Lynch in Iowa

“THERE was a period when I was travelling with work for at least two-thirds of the year, but I realised doing that long term was making me unhappy. I started to feel lonely and rootless, so now I only travel for around 30 per cent of the time.

“I spend most of the year in New York – and, as New York is one of the most densely populated places on the planet, I like to holiday in isolated places where there aren’t that many people. It makes a nice contrast.

“That’s one reason why I like the Scottish Highlands, between Edinburgh and Inverness – it’s just the most spectacular and beautiful place in Europe. The first time I ever went to Scotland, my then girlfriend and I took a train trip all around the Highlands. My ancestry is McBride, so I feel a cultural and genetic connection to the area.

“I like to stay in fancy hotels, but my all-time favourite place is a run-down old rock ’n’ roll hotel in San Francisco. The Phoenix Hotel is in a terrible neighbourhood – it’s surrounded by homeless shelters and methadone clinics, but it’s a rite of passage for every young aspiring rock band to stay there. It’s got this weird 1950s seedy charm to it. When I check in, I always know full well I’m not going to get any sleep. There are always parties going on until three or four o’clock in the morning.

“I’m a light traveller, and don’t tend to take luggage with me on trips. I only have a rucksack, and I don’t take any clothes. I just have the clothes I’m wearing and when I get where I’m going, I buy new ones. Pretty much all I ever wear is jeans and a T-shirt, and you can get those anywhere. When I’m done, I leave the clothes for housekeeping staff – they’re usually happy to have them.

“Jeans work for driving too. One day, I’d love to drive around the American South- West – New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. It’s so unspeakably beautiful there, you feel like you’re on the surface of another planet. To be at the beginning of a good relationship, hire a car and drive around, staying in crumby motels, hanging out in truck stops, would be great.

“For my next break, though, I’m going to learn transcendental meditation with David Lynch in Iowa. He’s hosting the weekend and when he invited me, I figured that although I don’t really know what transcendental meditation involves, spending a few days with David Lynch in Iowa should be pretty interesting.”

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 2:55 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.