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MonoNeon: Killer Groove

We recently caught up with MonoNeon, an American bassist, experimental musician and songwriter known for his presence on YouTube playing bass guitar and for being one of the last people to work with Prince, about his love of Fender’s new American Professional II Series...

Dywane Thomas Jr. (aka MonoNeon), first caught the attention of Prince after the Purple Rain superstar discovered his videos online.

“His manager at the time contacted me via email saying Prince wants you to come to Paisley Park,” MonoNeon recalls. “I officially started working at Paisley Park in early 2015. Prince hired me to be Judith Hill’s bassist for her new band and after that I started playing with Prince’s new band.

“I played six shows with Prince for the Paisley Park After Dark shows. We also were recording before he left to do the Piano & a Microphone Tour. One of the songs/jams from the sessions is called “RUFF ENUFF” with Prince on guitar and keyboards, Kirk Johnson on drums, Adrian Crutchfield on sax/vocoder and me on bass.”

Prince released the song in question in January 2016 on TIDAL under the MonoNeon name.

An avid fan of Fender guitars, MonoNeon first got his hands on one in the early 2000’s when his mother bought him a purple 4-string Jazz Bass. Fast-forwarding to 2020, he has now got a J-style Bass from Fender’s new American Professional II Series, and admits that he has not stopped playing it.

I don’t have to add much to the bass for it to sound good in recording.

He first became aware of the new series when he was asked to get involved with Fender’s “The One. For All” campaign this year.

“The head of signature artists at Fender, Michael Schulz, reached out to me to be part of the campaign, and I was super down,” says MonoNeon. “They have been showing me a lot of love and I don’t take it for granted.

“The model I have is the 4-string Jazz with the Mystic Surf Green colour, maple neck and fingerboard. The one feature I like the most is the feel of the neck… it feels amazing and I don’t have to fight moving around it. Plus, it records great - The tone is killing!!”

As a guitar aficionado, MonoNeon likes to mess around with various timbres, and the American Professional ll Bass he now uses captures all of his needs: “Sometimes I change my plucking hand drastically from heavy back pickup sound to more of a warm Moog bass,” he says. “Playing near the neck and that has been pretty accessible on the new series.

“I’ve also been recording a lot with it,” he reveals. “I finished my new album Banana Peel On Capitol Hill which I’m releasing in 2021 using the new bass. I don’t have to add much to the bass for it to sound good in recording.

“I usually write songs from the guitar but since having this J-style bass I’ve been coming up with original songs on it. I move around randomly with what I play on my bass, from straight thumping to Indian gamaka stuff, and the bass from the new series has been dealing well with my sporadic playing.”