Moby recalls DJing at sex clubs in New York City and heading to Bible study the following morning in the early days of his music career in his new memoir "Porcelain."

The newly-released book looks back at the decade before his critically acclaimed album "Play" was released in 1999. Moby said he starts the book as a “sober Christian,” and ends the book in “a very different place.”  

"I was convinced the album Play was going to be a complete failure," Moby told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday. "I thought it was going to come out, and languish in obscurity, and then disappear."

Play ended up selling more than 12 million copies worldwide and launched Moby from the electronic dance scene into the international spotlight.

The memoir begins in 1989, when Moby was making just $3,000 a year and squatting in an abandoned New York factory before getting his first DJing gig.

"I would find myself in these nightclubs as this sober, straight, white guy surrounded by this amazing African American, gay, Latino culture, and it felt like such an honour to be part of it," he said.

But Moby says he struggled at the time, wrestling with his Christian faith and battling alcoholism.

"I would be DJing until 4, 5 in the morning, and sometimes DJing at sex clubs or at raves, and then during the day I would go teach Bible study," he said. "I felt quite a lot of guilt about having personal ambitions, because at the time I felt like I was almost called to just give up everything I have and wander around, take care of the poor and teach Bible study."