In this conversation, the exceptionally talented Mohini Dey talks about it all – she narrates little anecdotes from her childhood, addresses her love for fashion, the choices she had to make in order to get where she is today and much more, that helps us better understand how she does what she does and how she keeps her passion alive.
Read on to know more.
In this conversation, the exceptionally talented Mohini Dey talks about it all – she narrates little anecdotes from her childhood, addresses her love for fashion, the choices she had to make in order to get where she is today and much more, that helps us better understand how she does what she does and how she keeps her passion alive.
Read on to know more.
What is your earliest memory of music?
It’ s very stunning but I remember everything from my childhood. Both my parents are musicians – my mom sings and my dad is a bass player. Every time I would come back from school or every time I would wake up, there would always be music playing. So I clearly remember that music was always floating around me. I have these vivid picture memories of my dad practising and after he was done, we would go and eat crab together, because I love crab. These memories are still so fresh in my head, that when I think about it, I feel like I’ m right there.
How did you end up playing the bass?
One day my father was practising and he happened to put his headphones around my ears, and I started giving the right tempo. I was only three years old then. That’ s when it occurred to him that there was no girl bass player in the country and he decided to start teaching me. He started teaching me on a hand made bass. Since we weren’ t so financially strong then, he cut pieces of wood and took out pick ups from his old bass and made me a smaller bass. I seriously started taking lessons when I was six and by the age of nine, I was already playing.
What was the first song you ever composed?
The first ever song I composed is a song called Soul. I wrote it almost 5-6 years ago. Though I perform it at my gigs, I haven’ t released it yet. This is because there are so many musicians that I ended up working with in the past few months and I want them to play on my album. Having these amazing personalities play on my album will make a very huge difference. So I’ m just waiting for the right moment.
When you create music, is there a specific process that you follow?
Usually, when I’ m travelling, I end up composing a lot. This is because while travelling, I listen to a lot of music and ideas just come. So when they do, I pause the music, take my time and just build on the groove or the melody that come to me after listening to a particular song or piece. Usually, the first the thing that comes to my mind is the melody. Then I lay down the chord changes and then the groove. Sometimes the groove comes first too and then I try to come up with the melody and changes over that. So it’ s just mostly trial and error every time. I also make sure to listen to all kinds of music and not just limit my self to one specific genre, so that all my music doesn’ t sound alike.
Which songs / artists do you usually like listening to?
Apart from the songs of all the bands that I’ m a part of, I like listening to Bruno Mars, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Chic Corea, Victor Wooten and many more. But before going to sleep and after waking up, there is one song in particular that I love listening to – it’ s called Ordinary People by John Legend, but I listen to the George Benson and Al Jarreau version of it. There’ s another song by them called All I Am, which I absolutely love listening to.
The Score Magazine
Photo Courtesy: Dipit Raz, Dipit Photography highonscore. com
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