“Unapologetically embracing my own unique path because I don’t fit into molds — I break them. Let’s break free from the mundane and ordinary. Take risks and challenge the status quo. It’s time to unleash your creativity, ignite innovation, and carve your unique path. Embracing the unconventional isn’t just a choice — it’s a revolution. Dare to be different and shape a world that celebrates the extraordinary. The future belongs to those who dare to dream beyond the conventional boundaries. Are you ready to redefine what’s possible? Because I am.” If you’ve seen Mohini Dey play, you already know that she’s the living embodiment of daring to be different. Her singular combination of passion, virtuosity, versatility, and stage presence have made this Bengali Indian woman with a superhuman work ethic and uninhibited fashion sense one of the most exciting bass players of the past few years — and she’s just getting started. Born in Mumbai, India to Hindustani classical singer Romia Dey and studio bassist Sujoy Dey, Mohini got her first lesson on her father’s Fender Jazz Bass when she was three. Sujoy, who played on hundreds of Bollywood soundtracks, raised Mohini (and her sister, guitarist Esani) on funk, fusion, and Indian music. She was onstage at age ten, and in her teens, Mohini put aside her dreams of being a fashion designer to work with mentors like drummer Ranjit Barot, keyboardist Louis Banks, and Bollywood musical mastermind A.R. Rahman. American audiences took notice when Dey, then 18, brought down the house alongside Rahman at Berklee in 2014; a couple years later, she was collaborating with heavy hitters like Jordan Rudess and Steve Vai. By 2019, when she turned heads at NAMM and the Baked Potato in L.A. and recorded with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, Japanese rock band B’z, Indian jazz-fusion duo Ekalavya, Russian guitarist Evgeny Pobozhiy, Italian guitarist Alex Giallombardo, and Indonesian guitarist Dewa Budjana (alongside Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante), Mohini was an international sensation. The past five years have only raised her profile. With dozens of collabs around the world, nearly half a million followers on social media, millions of views on YouTube, and masterclasses at Steve Vai Academy, Sweetwater, and livdemy, Dey has established herself as a badass with down-to-earth humor and a take-no-prisoners attitude. The enthusiastic reception last year for her ass-kicking self-titled debut, as well as the spectacular first album by MaMoGi (her trio with saxophonist Mark Hartsuch and drummer Gino Banks), was marred only by the death of her father in November 2023.  As we went to press, Dey — fresh off a Rick Beato interview that has garnered 1.4 million views so far — was on the road and in the studio with Willow Smith while prepping for MaMoGi gigs at Billboard Live venues in Tokyo and Osaka. Later in 2024, she’s scheduled to tour Europe with Greg Howe, go to B