Grammy-winning artist, Ricky Kej on collaborating with an Indian wellness music label for his album 'Break of Dawn'

Music, they say, is therapy for the soul. It’s not just about the melodic tunes that tug at your heartstrings; it’s way more deep-rooted than that. Ricky Kej is a three-time Grammy Award winner, a passionate environmentalist, and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. He has an expansive body of work and is known for his fusion of global sounds which always have a purpose-driven message to deliver. As he mentions many times during the interview, all our physical and societal issues are related to wellness. Hence, in this first-of-a-kind collaboration between a singer and a wellness music label like Vedam Records, they aim to promote traditional Indian music with a contemporary touch in the said space.

There are nine incredible tracks recorded by the ace musician, each a blend of his deep interpretation of the raga. Peace, harmony and serenity form the crux of these compositions. The coming together of several instruments like the sitar and flute adds a depth of freshness to the melodies. In an exclusive conversation with Cosmopolitan India, Kej takes us through his creative process and why Break of Dawn is his most special creation yet.

Cosmopolitan India: When you represent India on such a global platform—like the GRAMMYs—what are your takeaways from the experience, on how they perceive Indian music?

Ricky Kej: The way that I look at it is that, when I'm on the Grammy stage, I'm representing my music itself. If I have to pull back a little bit, then obviously it is representing India too, but I do not look at it that way. But I'm thrilled that it is perceived as representing India. It puts a lot of responsibility on me when I'm representing a country over there.

As for how the International community perceives Indian classical music, it has always been appreciated all over the world. If you look at people like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Anushka Shankar, and Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, all of them won some of the biggest International awards. And of course, this year, we had Rakesh Chaurasia, Shankar Mahadevan, you know, Shakti. So basically, the thing is that Indian music has always been well appreciated. It's just that we don't appreciate that music in India. And at the same time, they can reach out to audiences that are not the Indian diaspora over there. So Indian music has always been perceived well, but that is the more traditional forms and folk forms. It's only now that our pop forms are being noticed all over the world.

CI: Why now?

RK: Let's say if a Bollywood musician or a film musician, performs anywhere in the world, they can fill up stadiums with ease. But the people who show up are mainly people from within the Indian diaspora. Let's say a Pandit Ravishankar concert, in places like Germany or Mexico, the demographic of the audience within the theatre is very representative of the demographic of the city itself. Because they were able to break cultural barriers and reach out to people who are normally not exposed to Indian music. And what they were playing was pure Indian music. That is the kind of misconception we have in India, that to reach out to an international audience, we need to create more Western forms and genres of music, sing in English, so that we connect with them. But that's not true at all.

CI: But do you think are getting a little better now in terms of understanding the music culture at large? 

RK: The scene is getting better and better, and there are more and more people writing songs from the heart. Because, previously it was like, if I'm a musician, it was always music that a director tells you to make or a situation that demands a certain piece of music. But now more and more people are just making music and putting it out, and it's getting millions of listeners. That's a very good trend, because musicians need to learn how to express themselves through their music, and they need to be successful doing that.

CI: Do you think Indian audiences have acquired a taste for traditional music?

RK: I think we have always had the taste. It's just that the gatekeepers—the labels, promoters, event organizers, somehow have felt over the last three or four decades that our Indian audiences are stupid. I can challenge you that any person who has been exposed to a Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasiya concert will be mesmerized. But the thing is that the exposure does not exist. Gone are the days when we would go outside to find new music to listen to, or we go to stores and find new CDs. The only kind of music that we listen to is the music that is pushed to us. Nowadays, productions that can spend a lot of money, push the music on social media and various digital platforms. The only music that we listen to is music that comes to us on our phones. And unfortunately, when it comes to the traditional music forms, the ecosystem does not exist for them. They're rarely played on radio or television.

 

CI: Coming to Vedam Records—a collaboration with a label like this unheard of, what was the inspiration behind it?

RK: Break of Dawn is the album in collaboration with Vedam Records—it’s my 26th album. Now my first 14 albums have been with major labels. So I've done the whole thing of working with major labels, then from the 15th album onwards is when I went independent. My 16th album won me my first Grammy Award. And then after that, my 22nd album won me another two Grammy Awards, and they have all been independent releases. I honestly enjoyed being an independent musician. Creating the kind of music that I wanted to, at my own pace.

With Break of Dawn, I have been composing melodies for almost the last eight or nine years. I've been composing at various stages in my life during these last few years. They’re recorded on my phone, or the computer or just in my head, but they've not gotten into a very focused manner into an album. I had a meeting with the folks at Vedam. They told me that they are starting this new label, and it's going to be about wellness, and music for a purpose, showcasing India to the rest of the world, which resonated with me amazingly well.

CI: Having dived into the wellness music space, how is this collaboration an extension of the purpose-driven message that your global sound and fusion is known for?

RK: There are always two approaches to sending out a message and purpose-driven music. One is shaming people into action, which is also important but has a short-term effect. Then, you've got what I call the Sir David Attenborough method, where you showcase what is beautiful in this world. And hopefully, through that beauty, we will encourage everybody to fall in love with nature and the natural world. And we'll find it within ourselves to protect, conserve and sustain. So that is the idea. I'm primarily an environmentalist, that's the main work that I do as a goodwill ambassador with the United Nations. I believe mental wellness is essential for combating all the problems that we face on our planet, be it societal or environmental issues. So you asked whether my collaboration with Vedam adds to that?  Because that is what Vedam stands for. And that is what I stand for. 

 

CI: What's your take on how competitive it is now for musicians in the industry?

RK: I think there's a huge mindset over here where musicians feel that either we have to be a super successful superstar, or we are starving musicians, but there's a whole ecosystem in between. I believe that India needs to embrace more and more niche genres of music, the way that the West has done. People will be surprised to see how successful an ecosystem developed for various niche genres in India will be, where radio stations, television channels, and social media platforms are dedicated to those genres of music. That way every kind of musician can be successful doing any kind of art form.

CI: Do you take the social media game and followers count seriously?

RK: I think social media is a very, very important tool today when it comes to disseminating music. There’s mainstream music and niche music. Now, the difference between those two is that when it comes to mainstream music, it's a one-size-fits-all approach and it is going to appeal to a huge landscape of demographics and you're going to get huge numbers. So you have to follow current trends and figure out what is working and what’s not. So it is art, and there’s a little bit of science also involved in it. With niche genres of music, it's the exact opposite, where you're creating music for yourself because you love doing that kind of music. And then the struggle is to find like-minded people who will like that music.

CI: So what so what's your lineup like for the rest of the year?

RK: Right now I'm concentrating on and focusing completely on promoting Break of Dawn. What I’ve realised over the years is that once I finish off a project, I have to stay in love with that project and I have to try to get as many like-minded listeners to appreciate the project. Then move on to the next project only when I realise that all right, everybody who needs to listen to the album has listened to the album, and now it’s time to move on.

All images: Ricky Kej

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