Chords for MonoNeon Interview

_ Hey, could you clap in front of your face twice for me?
_ One more, one more.
_ [Abm] Yeah!
Alright, how'd you meet this cat, Jonathan Scales? _
_ _ _ _ Uh, uh, the [Bb] first time I met him was in New Orleans.
_ _ _ Some_
I think he found me first.
_ How'd he hit you up?
By phone, [Abm] text, email?
_ _ _ Uh, uh, text message.
_ [F] _ And he was like, hey, you trying to [Eb] play with me?
_ Yep.
_ _ Alright, we're going straight to the [Bb] philosophical, man.
What [Abm] is music?
_ _ _ _ _ I don't know, whatever you want it to be, I [F] guess. _ _ _
[Ebm] There it is.
_ Uh, _ when did you first pick up an instrument?
And what was that instrument?
[Ab] _
_ Um, at four years old, a bass.
[Bb]
Well, a guitar.
I played it like a bass though. _ _ _ _
Where'd you find it?
Whose guitar was it?
My dad bought me one.
_ Okay.
Did [Ab] anyone show you [Bb] the ropes a little bit, or you were just messing around with it?
My dad's a musician.
[Ab] My dad's a bass player.
I just watched him.
[Eb] _
_ _ You feel like your ear got [Bb] some training early on?
_ _ Yeah, I guess.
I used to practice the records and stuff.
[Ab] _ _ You would play along with them? _
_ [Bb] And learn songs.
_ _ _ [Bbm] _
So you were four years [C] old.
So by like 12, were you already pretty decent?
[Bb] _ _ Yeah, that's when [Ab] I started.
_ I joined my first band, I think. _
At 12 years [Bb] old. _ _ _ _
How long have you been playing with Johnson Scales? _ _ _
_ Since, I guess last year? _
Yep, last year.
_ Would you go to Japan with him, or you've been _ uh_
I just do the _ States for now.
Okay.
_ Where are you guys [Ebm] going after this?
_ After tonight.
_ [Ab] I don't know.
Wherever [Bb] they take me.
You don't know what city you're going to next?
I never know.
Oh, that's what's up.
[Ab] So you're along for the ride?
_ [Eb] _
_ Yep.
_ Alright, philosophy on life.
How to [Bb] be happy.
What is it? _ _
_ _ _ _ I don't know. _
_ _ _ _ That's a hard-ass question.
_ _ _ _ How to be happy. _
_ I mean, I don't know.
Just do _ [Fm]
stuff.
_ _ [F] I don't know.
[Db] _
_ _ Alright, ready?
I got another question for you.
[Ab] I don't know.
Take a cat who only listens to the radio, and [Eb] all he ever listens to is the commercial pop station.
You know, [Fm] Kiss or whatever that is.
He doesn't know anything about anything.
[Db] He's never listened to any other kind of music.
How do you open that [Ab] guy's mind?
How do you get him to listen to good [Eb] music?
And does he have it in him?
Do you have to listen to things from an early age, or anyone can take it on?
[Bb] _
_ _ _ _ I don't_
[Abm] I really let people do whatever [Ebm] they want to do.
I'm not the type of person to _ _ tell [Bb] you you should listen to this or do what you want.
Who are you listening to right now?
What do you have?
What CDs?
What music? _ _ _
_ I really don't [Eb] listen to _ anybody right now.
Probably _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Steely Dan or something.
Or [Db] _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ some old Memphis, [Eb] like, 3-6 Mafia shit stuff.
I don't know.
Anything.
Anything that's_
[Bb] Do you still practice, or do you feel like you got it?
Like, you can just go and play?
I practice.
I really don't think of it as practice.
I just play.
[Eb] _ _ _ _
I just play.
Do your fingers ever hurt?
_ [Bb] _ _
_ [Bbm] Sometimes.
_ _ Do they ever bleed during a show?
_ It depends on how hard I'm playing.
_ _ [F] _ _ They never [Bb] bled through a show.
_ Bleed, bled, bleed, bled.
No, I'm alright.
What are you listening to right now?
What [F] are you going to put on with those headphones? _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ I really don't even listen to music much.
[Ebm] I watch a lot of pranks on [Db] YouTube and shit.
Yeah.
_ [Abm] _ That's good.
I like prank videos.
_ _ _ Has playing this kind of music changed [Db] your style up a little bit, or have you played this kind of music before? _ _
_ [Abm] I'd say I have played this music before, but not with this instrumentation.
This is like a whole new instrumentation for me.
With [Ab] steel pans.
I never played with a steel pan player.
Not like Jonathan. _ _
Is Jonathan [Db] unique?
Are there a lot of players [D] like him, or is he something [Eb] different?
Well, this is my [Gm] first hearing [Abm] the stuff he's doing.
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ He gets it.
He just has it.
[G] What do you mean he gets it?
I don't know.
He just gets it.
_ I can't really explain that one. _
_ _ He just knows.
_ _ [C] _
_ _ _ Do you ever mess around with [G] the steel drums, or do you have a play with them?
_ [D] I mess around [Am] with his, _
[G] just to get used to the timbre or whatever.
[D] Do you feel like you've [Am] picked up a little bit of skills with [G] it, or not really?
No, I don't have any skills with it.
_ Do you play any other [G] instruments?
_ _ _ _ I've been playing a little more guitar, _ _ [C] _ and a little key bass stuff.
[E] _ _ _ _ Tell me [Ab] a little bit about your name.
I don't know. _ _
_ It's inspired by visual arts, like neon light installations and stuff.
_ When did you come up with it? _
_ _ 2010, I think. _ _
Actually, I don't even know what it means, to be honest.
It's just something I just came up with, and I stuck with it, and I cultivated it.
_ [Em] _ _
[Ab] Did he say he played with Prince? _ _
[D] Yep.
That's what's up.
When was that? _ _ _
I officially started playing with him late _ 2015 _ on, until he passed.
_ The last time I was with him [Ab] was February of last year.
Doesn't even seem that long, but yeah. _ _
I've [Gm] heard great things about him.
Good [Bb] vibes?
Yeah, he's pretty cool.
_ [Ab] _ _ How'd you [E] two connect?
He found me online, because I was playing with Judas Hill before I started playing with him. _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ You started performing with him?
And recorded with him a _ couple months before he passed.
So you guys were in the studio. _ _
Do you like being a studio [D] artist, or more of a performance artist?
_ _ [Gb] _ _ [E] I mean, whatever the [Bb] moment is, I guess.
[Ab] I like playing live and stuff.
Is it a different feel?
Yeah, it's different.
_ No do-overs, you just gotta keep going?
Yep. _ _ _
_ _ _ I'm gonna let you run.
That was a good interview, though.
I got some stuff out of you.
It's alright. _
Can you hear me?
Yeah, I hear you fine.
Okay.
[Fm] _ _