An investigative podcast has claimed it has evidence that Moby is not actually a relative of author Herman Melville.
The producer has said for years he was distantly related to the famed Moby Dick writer, and that he was nicknamed Moby by his parents at a young age in reference to his purported great-great-great-uncle.
However, The Genealogy Detective seems to believe the contrary. In a new three-part series, hosts Mary Duffy and Adam Mellion brought the claim into question, studying both Moby’s relatives and Melville’s and looking into their family trees.
They claim they found no definitive link to the famous author, they did find an apparent genealogical connection to inventor David Melville, who filed a patent for the first gas lighting system in America.
Stereogum approached Moby for comment, to which he replied: “Ha, no idea if it’s true or not, but it’s flattering that people I’ve never met would spend time looking into my genealogy.”
Meanwhile, the producer also revealed earlier this year that he has previously tried to start metal bands with Björk, Tommy Lee and Dimebag Darrell.
The group he almost started with Lee and Dimebag was supposedly called The Sober Fucks. “I’ve been sober for a while now, but this was a late-night, alcohol-fuelled idea between Pantera’s guitarist Dimebag Darrell, drummer Vinnie Paul, Tommy Lee and I,” he told NME.
Moby continued: “I regret not starting this chaotic metal band with them, which would have sounded like a cross between Pantera and my old punk group Flipper.”
Earlier this year, Moby released his new documentary film, Punk Rock Vegan Movie, featuring interviews with Rob Zombie, Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, Ian MacKaye and more.
The documentary was written, directed and scored by the musician and vegan activist, and also features Quicksand‘s Walter Schreifels, Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, Captain Sensible, AFI frontman Davey Havok, Cro-Mags singer John Joseph, Wes Eisold, Steve Ignorant and more.
The film looks at “the surprising history of punk rock and animal rights activism” and features interviews with “dozens of punk rock legends, and also cameos from Bagel the dog, the devil, and a boardroom of demons”.