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.