In a time when many of our favorite rock musicians are turning to their laptops and experimenting with electronic music, just the opposite is true for Moby. The superstar DJ is dropping the turntables for now and picking up a guitar, according to Rock it Out! Blog. Of course, playing guitar is nothing new for Moby, but here’s what is new: he’s started a metal band.
The band’s name — Diamondsnake — is comically metal, as is almost everything else about the band’s roots. According to the band’s website, Moby and Valley Lodge member Dave Hill switch off on guitar and bass, while fellow Valley Lodge member Phil Costello fronts the group. Costello also plays guitar for a band called Satanicide and sings for Bee Gees metal tribute band Tragedy. Rounding out the band is drummer/vocalist Tomato of experimental metal band Sound of Urchin.
According to the website, “Diamondsnake was borne out of a shared love for entering a small, dark, and musty room, plugging into a few amps, and playing as loud as possible for a seriously long time.” It goes on to claim Moby first called Costello in January, wanting to get together to write songs. By April, all four members spent one long day at Headgear Studio in Brooklyn, finishing 15 tracks and some vegan Chinese food. These tracks include such they-can’t-be-serious rockers as “Wrong Woman to Love”, “Woman, Yeah”, and “Storm the Fuckin’ Kastle” (God knows why they spelled that with a “K”).
You can probably guess what it sounds like, but the website tells you anyway that the band “[combines] such disparate influences as rock, hard rock, metal, and heavy metal.” More specifically, it sounds like Brian Johnson-era AC/DC and a lot of fun, simple pop-metal riffs. Lyrically, songs cover everything from “love, lust, good women, bad women, the power of rock, and predatory sea creatures.” Check out the site or the Myspace page to hear the tunes for yourself.
Diamondsnake’s first performance will be held June 17th at HighLine Ballroom in New York City (tickets here), and the band also plans to play a show in Los Angeles next month. Support for the HighLine show will be Persephone’s Bees.
If you’re more in the mood for good, old-fashioned techno Moby, however, there’s always this show. Also, that new “Wait for Me” single comes out today, along with the remix album in two weeks.
