brings Memphis-rooted experimental fire to Blues on Broadbeach

MONONEON will bring his boundary-pushing live show to Blues on Broadbeach on May 16, as the Memphis artist continues to blur the lines between funk, blues and experimental music.

Born and raised in Memphis’ Orange Mound, MonoNeon grew up surrounded by a mix of church music, Southern rap, funk and pop.

“I was hearing all types of rap, from Three Six Mafia, MJG, Playa Fly, and Gangsta Boo,” MonoNeon, real name Dywane Eric Thomas Jr., said.

“Then I was hearing music from the Baptist church.”

“Then I was hearing music that my dad and uncle were putting me on, like Parliament, and stuff from my mama, like Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton.”

That early immersion became the foundation for a musical identity defined by contrast and collision.

As his style developed, MonoNeon began consciously drawing together influences that do not typically share the same space.

“The combination of John Cage and Albert King is the thing I’m trying to do now,” he said.

The result is a sound that moves between funk, blues and experimental composition without settling into any one category.

That refusal to settle extends beyond sound into image and performance.

On stage, MonoNeon is immediately recognisable, with bright colours, a bass guitar with a sock hanging off it, and masks and ski goggles that blur the line between performance and identity.

 

“It’s kind of developing on me being a little more comfortable and letting go of everybody’s expectations,” he said.

“I really can’t define how I am right now, but I’m just being me, that’s all.”

MonoNeon said his brightly coloured ski goggles, often a focal point for audiences, are not about disguise but transformation.

“I do have stage fright, but when I put my goggles on, there’s this type of ego that happens,” he said.

Once he puts them on, he describes a shift in state.

“It’s like I can just take over the world for an hour or so,” he said.

That sense of freedom is also what first drew him toward Dadaism and conceptual art.

An early 20th-century art movement, Dadaism rejected traditional structures in favour of absurdity, unpredictability and unconventional expression.

MonoNeon said he draws on this philosophy as a creative framework, using its disregard for established norms to free himself from genre constraints and artistic expectations.

“Of course, I have a brand and persona, but when I started learning about Dada, it just helped me break out of trying to be anything,” he said.

“That’s what Dada means to me, just do stuff and just own it, without worrying about whether it’s cool or not.”

MonoNeon pointed to his time playing with Prince as a pivotal moment in his artistic development.

“I’m so happy I had that time with him, because if I didn’t, I would not be here the way I am right now, trying to do my solo stuff,” he said.

 

“He really put a fire in me, being around him.

“He had so much control and command.”

One of the most emotionally grounding influences in his life is his grandmother, who remains central to his musical world.

“She’d put the blues on, and my ear used to perk up,” he said.

As she now lives with dementia, MonoNeon said music has become a way of preserving connection and memory.

“My job right now is to do what I can to preserve every moment I have with her,” he said.

“She doesn’t even realize the influence she has had on me, but now I have the space and the energy and the focus to really show her.”

That desire has shaped recent collaborative work, with the pair singing a duet on the track Better Days Are Coming.

“I’m really just trying to preserve her singing voice, because she doesn’t even know how incredible she is,” he said.

Even as memory fades, MonoNeon said music continues to create connection.

“It’s all about the hook and the groove,” he said.

“If she feels that, then that lets me know I’m on to something.”