‘It is always surreal to live through the moment of winning another Grammy,’ says Ricky Kej.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru-based music composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej, 41, scored a Grammy hat-trick final fortnight when he gained the celebrated award within the ‘Best Immersive Audio Album’ class for Divine Tides, his collaborative work with rock legend Stewart Copeland. The nine-song ensemble had additionally gained a Grammy final yr for the ‘Best New Age Album’.
A self-taught musician who has carried out in over 30 international locations, Kej’s repertoire, which has a robust Indian affect, contains a number of studio albums launched internationally, over 3,500 commercials and music for function movies, together with the award-winning pure historical past documentary Wild Karnataka, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Back in his hometown, Bengaluru, Kej recounts the thrill of representing India on the world stage and utilizing his music for the bigger good. Edited excerpts:
Your “unattainable dream of a Grammy” has change into a actuality 3 times over. Have you come to phrases with it?
It is at all times surreal to reside by way of the second of successful one other Grammy. It has been a couple of days now and congratulatory messages are nonetheless pouring in. I’m extraordinarily grateful for all of the love and I’m extremely grateful for having had one other alternative to make India proud on the music world’s greatest platform.
It should be a rewarding expertise working with Stewart Copeland?
(L to R) Ricky Kej, Herbert Waltl (music producer) and Stewart Copeland with the Grammy for ‘Best Immersive Audio Album’ on the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Copeland is an absolute legend. It has been a lifetime’s honour to work with somebody I take into account my musical hero, not to mention win two Grammys alongside him. Stewart isn’t just the founder and frontman of one of many biggest-selling bands in historical past (The Police), he usually composes for operas, orchestras, and has labored on over 50 Hollywood movies. Despite reaching the head of success, he’s continuously evolving and studying by exploring new sounds, conventional musical devices and rhythms. Working with Stewart is like attending one of the best masterclass possible.
Your Grammy this yr was within the ‘Best Immersive Audio Album’ class. Tell us about its conceptualisation?
Divine Tides is a multilayered album with expansive soundscapes from internationally. We envisioned this album as a sensory expertise from the bottom up and used Sony’s cutting-edge 360RA expertise to facilitate this. Working with trade legends and immersive combine pioneers Herbert Waltl and Eric Schilling helped elevate the album to new heights and we’re thrilled to get this worldwide recognition for our efforts.
How are expertise and synthetic intelligence remodeling music?
Technology in music creation has grown by leaps and bounds. I’ve at all times made probably the most of expertise to document remotely, to develop new sounds, and so forth. There is concern amongst musicians in regards to the impression that synthetic intelligence could have on their careers. Talent and creativity are among the many strongest traits of the human race and it’s solely due to these traits that we’ve got come to date in just some thousand years. Musicians need to consider in themselves and perceive the facility of music, which is a surreal human expertise. Artificial intelligence can not replicate that.
Can music assist in creating a greater surroundings? What about your music?
Music is a strong common language and has at all times performed a job in evoking an emotional response. Throughout historical past, that is why music has been utilized in political activism, public protests, grassroots actions, sports activities, and a number of different areas to create consciousness and to stir motion. I’ve at all times believed that it is just when folks begin acknowledging a problem and have a dialogue to unravel it, will an answer come. My purpose is to encourage this dialogue by way of my music.
Ever since I gained the Grammy, I’ve devoted my life to elevating consciousness on numerous environmental and social points. I’ve created anthems for numerous causes, together with official songs for the UN and different international non-profit organisations such because the WWF and Earth Day Network. I work with governments, international our bodies, scientists, and different world leaders to successfully convey pressing advanced messages associated to the surroundings by way of the highly effective language of music.
Through my reside live shows in India and around the globe, I can instantly work together with a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals and disseminate these vital messages. I strongly consider that each one of this has and will proceed to encourage folks to make a tangible distinction to our surroundings. I’ve a bunch of reside performances lined up, beginning with the G20 summit in Bengaluru. I even have a few concepts for a brand new album. I’m excited to start out work on that quickly.
Is the music trade seeing a restoration put up pandemic?
The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns hit all the trade extraordinarily arduous. We all needed to study to adapt to the scenario and discover alternative ways to disseminate our music as a result of it doesn’t matter what challenges come up, music won’t ever depart our lives.
What do you consider the music scene in India vis-à-vis a number of the western international locations?
India produces very high-quality music, on a par with worldwide requirements. The challenge is with the content material. Every track is both a love monitor or an merchandise quantity since it’s the movie trade that gives a big share of the music content material consumed by Indian listeners. Even impartial musicians compose songs hoping to get an opportunity to work within the movie trade, and find yourself creating music that isn’t from the center.
One of the primary variations that I see is {that a} in style western band/ artist will have the ability to draw a crowd in any a part of the world and the viewers will comprise all nationalities; nonetheless, an Indian artist making music for Indian movies can solely draw an viewers comprising the Indian diaspora all over the place they go.
Collaborations appear to be a strong means going ahead for artists?
I’m an enormous fan of collaborations. I take pleasure in working with people who find themselves extra proficient than me as this drives me to work tougher. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to collaborate with a few of my musical heroes and I at all times study loads with every collaboration.
Do Indian musicians want mentors to make it within the West?
Every time I’m in Los Angeles, I make it some extent to satisfy my mentor and the rationale why I’ve a global profession — Rod Linnum. When I used to be a 19-year-old making music in my bed room in India, he heard my music all the best way in Los Angeles and provided me a document deal. At the time, he was vice-president of Universal Music.
I met him over 20 years in the past at a time when musicians didn’t have alternatives by way of expertise, social media, advertising, streaming, and so forth., that they’ve now. Independent musicians needed to solely depend on document labels and touring to be heard whereas there are much more alternatives accessible now. Upcoming musicians simply want to remain true to themselves and work arduous as a result of I consider that onerous work can compensate for any lack of expertise that one might need.
The interviewer is a Bengaluru-based impartial journalist and author.