MonoNeon
(MonoNeon - guitar & vocals, Mike Mitchell - drums & vocals,
Xavier Lynn - guitar & vocals , Charlie Brown - keyboards & vocals)
@ EartH Theatre
24 November 2024

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Biography

Dywane Eric Thomas Jr, professionally known as MonoNeon is an American bassist and experimental musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is known for his presence on YouTube playing bass guitar and being one of the last people to work with Prince. MonoNeon is a Grammy Award-winning artist, for his participation on the 2020 Nas album King's Disease. Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has referred to Mono as “the greatest fucking electric bass player.”

MonoNeon has collaborated with artists such as Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Pete Rock, Ne-Yo, Mac Miller, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ghost-Note, and more. Known for his otherworldly live show, MonoNeon has played Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and more.

While Thomas is right-handed, he plays left-handed on an upside down right-handed bass guitar, which allows him to use heavy string bending on the upper strings. Thomas' slapping style/technique is unique because he is executing everything upside-down, while traditionally using the thumb for slaps and fingers for pops. In a free/improvisational setting, listeners may hear the use of Indian melodic inflections and ornaments in Thomas' playing, including the use of gamakas. Another trademark is his use of randomness and mistakes in performance, taking unintentional ideas made in error, and spontaneously turning them into useable or intentional material.

MonoNeon’s sense of fashion, featuring vibrant quilted outfits and crochet masks, mirrors his music, which is just as unconventional and expressive.