What I’ve Learned About Bob Moog, The Man

by | Jul 11, 2016 | Best Music Keyboards & Synth Pads

Electronic Voyager film poster

Electronic Voyager film poster

I’ve recently added the title “film producer” to my resume, but first and foremost, I’m an electronic musician with an all-consuming passion for synth pop, synthesizers, and electronic music history. After producing the ultimate synth nerd documentary, I Dream Of Wires, my partner Robert and I wanted to continue documenting electronic music history, but also to branch off – for our follow up, we wanted a subject with a strong human story component. A new documentary on Bob Moog was the most obvious candidate in our minds, and we’ve now been developing Electronic Voyager for the past 6 months.

I Dream Of Wires 2014 documentary Trailer – Official from I Dream Of Wires on Vimeo.

After just a week of filming, I’ve discovered something about Bob Moog that I’m even more fascinated by than his pioneering synth work, much to my surprise. It’s something about Bob that I’m only beginning to come to grips with, and I’m already hungry to know more…. Bob Moog was obsessed with his work, so much so that it affected his personal relationships, and made him walk away from sensible, well-paying jobs. It seems that Bob needed his time alone in the workshop – and lots of it – to bring his visionary ideas to life.

[RELATED: read all the articles from Performer Magazine’s special Synth Issue.]

I’m no Bob Moog, but with my obsessive production process in the studio, I can relate. I know what it’s like to stumble out of the studio after 14 hours, my brain so fried on the science of synthesizers that I barely even feel human anymore. This is something that’s often made me feel alienated from my family and from normal people. I can see how this must have been a huge factor in Bob Moog’s life, but what fascinates me so much is how, despite this, he still managed to make such a monumentally positive impact on just about everyone he came into contact with.

I’m especially intrigued with how he has affected Michelle; even if one day I were to discover the cure for cancer, not even then could I imagine that my own daughter would dedicate her life’s work to my legacy. Beyond “Bob Moog the myth,” there is obviously something very transcendental about this man, to have inspired even one person to such a degree as he has inspired Michelle, let alone the countless thousands of people that Bob Moog has inspired.

Electronic Voyager – Bob Moog documentary KICKSTARTER promo from Electronic Voyager on Vimeo.

To learn more, visit electronicvoyager.com and moogfoundation.org.

What do you think of this special guest article about Bob Moog? Let us know in the comments below or drop a line on the Performer Magazine Facebook page or on Twitter @Performermag. And read more from the special Synth Issue of Performer Magazine