INTERVIEW: Deni Bonet
- Bob Gajarsky
The love song tends to be the centerpiece of numerous artist's performances. But whether the song is mushy-sappy or hateful, most artists tend to fall into stereotypical points of view. Rising star Deni Bonet, on the other hand, writes about failed relationships with best friends - and wanting to hate ex-boyfriends, but being unable to do so.
"Many songwriters will go for the suicidal mood...that's when I try to turn the situation around and laugh at myself," explains Bonet. "What's the point of taking yourself so seriously that everyone just gets bummed out along with you? Many of my songs have emerged from relationships that didn't make it."
A classically trained pianist ("I play a mean Mendelsohnn!", laughs Bonet), Deni Bonet has already accumulated a resume which takes some performers decades to achieve. Seven years on the National Public Radio show Mountain Stage afforded Bonet the opportunity to play violin and accordion with artists such as Richard Thompson, Warren Zevon, R.E.M., the Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan. This success led to an opening act slot for (and performing onstage with) Robyn Hitchcock, and appearing on his Moss Elixir album.
The highlight of Bonet's performances - and her EP, simply titled E.P., is the bouncy, upbeat track "Sunshine". Though the music from this song could fit in on a classic 70s pop song, the lyrics reflect Bonet's love of irony and modifying the expected results. Deni smiles while singing, "I want to be famous...I want to fuck you all the time - and that's why I need sunshine all the time."
"Sunshine" was written several years ago, after Bonet's two-year stint in London. "I didn't enjoy (living in London) enough to want to spend the rest of my life there," Bonet recalls. "I came to New York to do some shows, the sun was all shiny, and I was *really happy* to be back amongst the loud and exuberant!"
The time in London enabled Bonet to hone her skills, work briefly with the Shamen, and the opportunity for one of those chance musical encounters. A Turkish promoter caught their show in England, and booked her band to highlight one of Istanbul's larger concerts; the Turks sang along, buoyed by local radio play of Bonet's circulating demo.
Six songs from that demo comprise E.P. "Bigger Is Always Better" features Bonet's spoken-word, not too far from Blondie's "Rapture", in a humorous effort to explain why we want everything to be larger. From the Bible to the Empire State Building, everything is bigger - and Bonet the wordsmith has pun with words, such as "Why be a bad guy when you can be a copper? / Why be copper when you can be platinum", and so on. Bonet's live performance features a fierce extended vocalization, rattling off about Trump and all his power, with Bonet finally screaming out "Coffee makes me nervous!"
Longtime collaborator Roger Greenawalt has helped Bonet with some of her songs. As Bonet explains, "He and I have written many songs together over the years. We seem to bring out the humourous, but slightly evil side, of each other."
Bonet's music - besides vocals, she plays violin, viola, accordion - would fit in comfortably with either Dave Matthews or John Mellencamp. And while she gained her start in West Virginia, don't pin any of the typical stereotypes on her. "It doesn't mean that I play the fiddle - when I play, it's very electric and in-your-face."
So what does the future hold for Ms. Bonet? Despite the traditional obstacles of an unsigned artist (paying band members, publicity, booking, with no promises for the future), Bonet has her head held high. "I can honestly say that my hope and dream is that I can keep on playing and writing and enjoying where I am right now. I dream that someday soon, I can let some of the day-to-day details go, and concentrate on playing and writing my music!"
Deni Bonet can be contacted at Emotional Management, PO Box 7183, New York, NY 10150. A web site (built by one of her fans) contains samples of several of her songs, and can be accessed at http://www.bway.net/~dbonet
