From putting Indian music on the new age and world music genres’ global map to creating awareness through his music and fighting social causes, he has done it all.
But Ricky Kej was not going to settle with that. The city-based North Carolina-born musician, producer and songwriter has gone on to hit the number 1 position on the U.S. Billboard charts with his latest album Winds of Samsara .
His 14th studio offering is a collaboration with world-renowned South African flutist Wouter Kellerman and in its first week charted as the No.1 New Age album on the U.S. Billboard.
The 32-year-old composer says it’s a dream come true for him because most musicians spend their entire lifetime without even getting onto the Billboard charts and “that’s how I thought my career was going to turn out. It’s an even greater feeling to be number 1. The general public has been responding well to my music.”
On the name of the record, he says: “Samsara refers to the cycle of life and death which has inspired a lot of my writings. Also Wouter being a flautist, the winds stand for the flute being a wind instrument.”
The experience with Wouter was amazing, Ricky points out. “Both of us are primarily quite different as musicians. Our differences came out very positively in the album and we learnt a lot from each other. I would have never tried out the things we did in the album if it wasn’t for him. This experience has taken my musical ability to a whole new level.”
With a total of 120 musicians from five continents involved in the album, Winds of Samsara is a colossal work of art. “It took us two years and a lot of travelling. We felt it was better to record face-to-face rather than online since there is instantaneous feedback. We did a lot of collaborations with choirs, orchestras, exotic vocalists and instrumentalists from across the world. Wouter himself recorded his flute in five continents.”
On the story behind the album, Ricky says Indian music is a natural extension of his way of expressing himself. “My album is a progression of what can be done with Indian music and fused with South African music. Winds of Samsara was born in our conversations on Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
We have a song called ‘Madiba’, which is how Mandela is fondly called, and ‘Mahatma’ in the album – both dedicated to these peacemakers. Through our discussions, we realised Mahatma Gandhi was in South Africa for a very long time before he came to India and started his satyagraha and peaceful resistance in South Africa. Mandela was heavily influenced by that and attributed a lot of his philosophies to Gandhi. This deeply-rooted connection between our respective fathers of the nation is what inspired us to create this album.”
Ricky goes on to say he does feel the responsibility towards Indian music and is proud of “having an album that is so predominantly Indian and hit the Number 1 spot.”
On how different it is from his previous albums, Ricky says: “Winds of Samsara is a lot more peaceful because of the subject matter. There are hardly any grooves or rhythms in it. It’s very atmospheric. My previous albums Shanti Orchestra and Ballad of Maya were predominantly Indian. This one is more of a blend with South African music.” Ricky further says: “There is always an evolution in my musicality. I am constantly a student of Western and Indian classical music and always learning. This album is a natural progression in my soundscape. It is far more diverse and sonically vibrant and a lot more experimental.”
Looking ahead, he intends to promote the album for some time and then work on the next project. “For every musician out there, making the music is the easiest part. The hardest is to market your album. Make sure you work really hard especially if it is going to be independent releases.”
