‘Environmental consciousness is at the core of my heart and my music reflects that’: Grammy winner Ricky Kej

Music composer, environmentalist and Grammy award-winner — Ricky Kej is all that and more.

Yet, all his laurels notwithstanding, Ricky oozes a kind of warmth and zen that is hard to come by, especially in the entertainment industry. His music too reflects his down-to-earth ethos. Tell him that and Ricky, whose latest song One With Earth sheds light on the ‘

Zero Budget Natural Farming

’ movement in Andhra Pradesh that over 300,000 farmers across 13 districts have transitioned to, says, “Isn’t it nature where music originated from? Many ask me why I don’t use the sounds of nature in my music. But I believe that music belongs to nature and what I do is interpret them and write a piece reflecting how I feel about these sounds. It’s like a painting versus a photograph, my music is like a painting.”

An indie

musician

from a family of doctors, Ricky left the film industry to explore greener pastures, won a Grammy for his album Winds Of Samsara (2015) and is now the

UNICEF

celebrity supporter for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with a chapter dedicated to his life in ICSE textbooks. “I believe the only way we can bring about societal and environmental change is through children. Our generation has made a lot of mistakes and we need to ensure that the next generation doesn’t do the same. We need to revive the fading connection between the environment and us,” he says.

‘A LOT OF THE TRIBAL FARMERS I MET IN TELANGANA AND AP ARE AMAZING MUSICIANS’
The thorough guy that he is, Ricky wanted to experience how the ‘Zero Budget

Natural Farming

’ movement actually works first-hand before agreeing to be associated with it. “Initially, it sounded too good to be true. But I was pleasantly surprised by the vision the state has and the manner in which they converted the farmers to this method of farming. I met a lot of farmers and spent time with them at Araku Valley and other parts of Visakhapatnam, apart from Guntur and Anantapur,” he says, adding that he also discovered hidden musical talents while interacting with the farmers. “The kind of positivity these farmers radiate is amazing. That was when I decided to make a song with them. A lot of the tribal farmers I met are amazing musicians too. They would play these really cool instruments and I just had to channel that in a song,” he adds.

The song One With Earth was launched by the Chief Minister of AP, Chandrababu Naidu, at the UN General Assembly in September in New York City. “We later played the song to 9500 farmers at a training session in Guntur. The way they reacted to the song was amazing, it was like they were at a rock show,” he laughs, adding, “They would request us to play the song on all 10 days of the training session. When it comes to indie music, I wonder why musicians have been told over the years that rural audience can’t enjoy any music other than commercial numbers! These farmers loved my music.”

‘HAVING A CHAPTER DEDICATED TO ME IN ICSE TEXTBOOKS WAS THE BIGGEST HONOUR’
Ricky says the most humbling experience in his career was having a chapter dedicated to him in the ICSE textbooks. “It’s crazy! When they first told me they were doing this, there was a sense of disbelief. It was only when I saw it in print that it really hit me. I believe this is the biggest honour anyone could get, to be worthy enough for kids to learn about and I feel humbled. But I also feel more responsible with the kind of music I create now,” he says, smiling.

The Bengaluru-based musician, who was also named as goodwill ambassador for Save the Children’s global campaign ‘Every Last Child’, has now compiled an album of 27 songs called My Earth, which explores different topics on sustainability. “The album touches upon a range of issues, including plastic, rhinos, carbon footprints, health and sanitation and so on. These songs will soon appear in 14 lakh ICSE and CBSE syllabus textbooks in the 2019 curriculum. The same will hold true in Kannada, Hindi, Marathi and Telugu by 2020. The songs are all available in public domain online for free use with no royalty. The idea is to place them in textbooks and replace the current nursery rhymes. We’re also working on French and Spanish versions of the songs for use in Brazil, Argentina, Spain and France,” he informs.

‘INDIAN MUSICIANS ARE ALWAYS WAITING FOR A BRIEF TO BE GIVEN TO THEM’
Once known for his work in Kannada films like Accident and Crazy Kutumba, he was only three films old when he made the shift from commercial to indie, calling it a “leap of faith”. “I just had to believe that things will get better with time and they have. I’m not saying this in a new-age-y manner, but the satisfaction of making excuse-free art is amazing. There will never again be excuses for my art because every piece of music I create now is an extension of my belief and personality,” Ricky explains.

The 37-year-old believes that musicians in India have gotten used to waiting for a brief to make art because of the way the film industry works, and says that needs to change if one has to achieve true greatness. “If you look at any great artiste in the past, they never waited for someone to tell them how to make it — be it Picasso or Bob Dylan. Unfortunately, we now have an influx of musicians in the country who make music completely contrary to their personality. Vishal Dadlani is a good example of that. He’s such a good human being, a strong political figure and someone who believes in gender equality, but Google his name and Sheila Ki Jawaani is the first thing that pops up,” Ricky points out.

‘MUSIC IS AN EXTENSION OF NATURE, AND MY MUSIC DEFINES ME AS A PERSON’

The musician says the path he has chosen is the one he’ll stay on and says, “Music is meant to define your personality. I would rather be lesser known for music that defines me than being associated with compositions that I don’t personally like. And environmental consciousness lies at the core of my heart and my music reflects that,” he says, signing off.