MUMBAI: 17 year-old Bass prodigy, Mohini Dey, already has a lot on her plate. Having worked with MTV for Unplugged Seasons 1 and 2, and Coke Studio 2 and 3, she has already built a very strong network. With Louis Banks (Uncle Louis) and Ranjit Barot (Ranjit Uncle) for mentors, she has managed to make her music more play than work. “It is like designing or painting to me,” says Dey, with excitement brimming in her voice.
Radioandmusic.com spoke to the young artiste to explore the cheery and talkative girl behind the bass guitarist.
Bass guitarist for the AR Rahman Coke Studio Season 3 episode, Dey opines that her favorite music composer is none other than Rahman. “This year, I got a chance to work with AR Rahman, so my Coke Studio experience has been amazing. My favorite songs from that episode are ‘Zariya’ and ‘Jagao Mere Desh Ko’. Another favorite is Husna by Hitesh Sonik from Season 2.” She admits that she has improved over the past few years and believes that it has helped open many doors for her through music.
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When asked if she prefers composing over doing covers, she replies, “I do enjoy both. I like playing cover versions but I improvise and personalise them. So they come out as a different song.”
“It is very difficult to balance my music and studies, especially when I have my board exams this year. There is a lot of academic pressure,” says Dey, who is a student at MJ Pancholia college of Commerce. After being introduced to music director, composer and singer, Ranjit Barot, and Grammy Award-nominated film composer, record producer, jazz musician-keyboardist and singer, Louis Banks, at the age of 11, she has been performing at various venues across India with her mentors. She gets a chance to travel abroad as well. “I was in Dubai for an MTV concert with Shafqat Amanat Ali and Shilpa Rao,” she adds. But despite all the pressure and juggling roles, her excitement soars as she speaks of what it is like to work with Louis Banks and Ranjit Barot. “I have a lot of fun with Ranjit Uncle and Uncle Louis, because Ranjit plays with time signatures and intense theoretical nuances. It is very challenging. With Uncle Louis it is challenging, tricky unison stuff. He gives me to experiment with solos. Its like a game.”
Between all the chatter and giggling, she manages to sound all grown up when she says, “I never wanted my work to be genre specific. I have always wanted to be a versatile musician. But I prefer Jazz. Even in bollywood, my playing style has a lot of influences from Jazz. I am more into funk with a touch of jazz.”
All this apart, Dey enjoys spending her time listening to Jazz bands and Instrumental musicians and exploring Funk. “In funk I listen to a lot of drummers and bass players. I follow Dave Weckl and Dennis Chambers. There are a lot of versatile Bass players like John Patitucci and Victor Wooten with his technically sound melodies. I hope to work with Victor Wooten some day. It is my dream (laughs).” It might be interesting to know that her signature favorite technique on the bass guitar is Afro Muted Groove.
Dey loves jamming with her father and professional Bass Guitarist Sujoy Dey, and younger sister, Esani Dey who is a lead guitarist trained in Carnatic Music. “We do jam often. But he has been busy for some time now. When he comes home at night after gigging, even at 1.00 am, if he sees me practicing, he just opens his case and starts playing with me. My sister is 13. She is the lead guitarist in the family. My dad and I are on bass,” she laughs.
