This month was earlier when Bengaluru-based Music producerRicky Kej and Stewart Copeland, The Police drummer, took to the Las Vegas MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom stage to accept the award GrammyIn the Best New Age Album category. Kej was there to receive his first Grammy in 2015. But, it was an unrecognisable moment and unbelievable. Winds of Samsara. As a sign of respect for Copelands, Kej touched Copelands’ feet. guru-shishya parampara, and accepted a hallowed gramophone Divine Tides (Lahiri Music). Kej says that it was a special experience to collaborate with my childhood idol, someone I admired throughout my life, and then to share a Grammy with him.
The Police, the British new-wave band from Britain, visited Mumbai in March 1980 to perform at a charity concert. The event was organized by the Parsi women of Time and Talent. Sting, Copeland’s lead vocalist, and Andy Summers, the guitarist, took Rang Bhavan open theater in south Bombays Dhobi Talao on fire. This concert was a landmark in the history and evolution of Indian rock concerts. Kej, who was born in North Carolina, USA, a year later, would hear about the concert from his father. He was a huge fan of great bands and had a large music collection.
Copeland was very easily discernible at the time due to his intense cymbal playing. I found something very poetic about Stewarts drumming… It was truly the backbone of the band and gave the songs of The Police so much emotion, he says. The Police and Copeland posters were placed on Kej’s Bengaluru bedroom wall, where he was eight years old when his family moved there.
Kej, who was a long-time jingle maker, never thought about the possibility that he might collaborate with an artist he admired, or even the possibility of winning the Grammy together.
After his first Grammy win Kej began to grow as a musician and was keen to do a follow-up album. He was distracted by concerts and travel, which kept him from focusing on music making. Then, the pandemic struck. The pandemic forced us to all stay indoors, which gave me the chance to record a new album. As I continued to create, I felt the need for a collaborator. It had to be someone who was not only a talented musician, but also someone who could help with the writing process. Stewart Copeland was the first to come to my mind. I didn’t want to go overboard because he was someone who has shaped my career by me listening to his music.
2) Following the win for Divine Tides(Lahiri Music), in Best New Age Album category, Stewart Copeland (drummer of the yesteryear-new-wave band The Police) at the 64th Grammy Awards Las Vegas
His British mentor and friend Ralph Simon, a veteran music-publishing veteran, introduced Kej and Copeland. After listening to some of the albums’ music, Copeland agreed. To Kej’s surprise. After a year of emailing each other, phone calls as well as Zoom emeets, remote recording sessions and remote video chats, Kej changed his sleep schedule to accommodate Copelands Los Angeles times. After almost a year, Divine Tides, a nine-song album, was finally completed. It is an ode and tribute to the natural world and the resilience of its species. It was born out of Kejs deep interest and activism in environmental issues. He prefers public transport over cars, gets his carbon footprint audited each quarter, and has worked with the government in Andhra Pradesh for zero-budget natural agriculture. This is a method that avoids pesticides and uses no chemicals. He is also a supporter of a number UN bodies and an ambassador.
Divine Tides was also created entirely online. Actually, Kej and Copeland met for the first time just seven days before the 64th Grammy Awards.
They have combined scores of musicians to create a variety of soundscapes and rich ambient textures. Our Home, a haunting song, features Sangeeta, a Vietnamese-American singer who also won a Grammy this year. Himalayas is a celebration of the highest mountain range on Earth. It features chants and Hindustani classical vocals as well as sitar interludes, percussion sounds, and chants. Gandhi, a gentle ballad that appreciates frogs, one the oldest species on Earth, dwells on the Mahatmas quote. It states: How animals are treated can determine the greatness and moral progress of a nation. Kej, who wanted people to be open to the idea, said that if the voiceless are treated well, it means that the country has a moral compass.
Kej grew in a wooded area with creepy crawlies. Kej would be disturbed as a child if his family would run or step on them. I realized early on that each species in the ecosystem had a special significance. Then there was music. It also came from nature sounds of birds, wind and water, as well as trees, he said.
Growing up in Bengaluru’s Punjabi-Marwari household, Kej was always glued to the music of his father, who had a wide selection that included Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. His doctor-father was not convinced. In 1999, he enrolled at the Oxford Dental College in the city for a course on dental surgery. Kej, who played in college with several bands that led him to radio commercials, made a deal for his father that I would get the degree. In dental college, I began to take on jingle projects. Kej, who created music for more than 3500 commercials and commercials for a variety of brands, including telecom companies, foods and beverages companies, and telecom companies, said that while I completed my degree, I did not practice dentistry for even a single day. He says it was the best music education he could have received, working with diverse clients all over the globe, and having built a large network of musicians through his commercials.
He stopped making commercial music in 2013, realizing that music was a powerful medium for selling products and could convey important messages. Why not use music to discuss topics such as gender inequality and deforestation? These are subjects that are very dear to me. Kej says that he had this idea and now plans on making music to have a positive social impact.
