While the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, was all about the glitz and glamour of the music world coming together, the highlight for Bengaluru was city-based musician Ricky Kej winning a Grammy.
Ricky and South African flautist Wouter Kellerman won the award for the Best New Age Album for Winds of Samsara. In his acceptance speech, Ricky pointed out that it is only in the US that an Indian and South African can win the highest music award. The album also debuted at #1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart last year, making it another first for Ricky.
Sharing his thoughts after the ceremony, Ricky says “Just being there, having my name called out and going up on stage – it’s all my dreams coming true. And giving my speech in front of musicians I’ve admired all my life… It was an amazing experience.”
Insisting he was neither anxious or tense about the result, Ricky said: “I was already extremely happy with the nomination. It was a huge honour in itself. It would have been completely fine with me, if I had not won the Grammy, I would have still lived with the honour of having been nominated for it. However, nothing beats the excitement of winning the award.”
The last time we spoke, Ricky had received his nomination for the Grammys and he had said the feeling was yet to sink in. Has it finally sunk in? “No!” he laughs. “I don’t think it’s ever going to sink in. I will always be in awe of this moment.”
Wouter was extremely happy with the award, Ricky adds. “He spent a whole lifetime in music. He is much older than me and has spent twice the number of years doing music. It’s a dream come true for him.”
On making Bengaluru proud, Ricky says: “If it inspires more people to become independent musicians and create music from their heart – that is an amazing feeling. It’s something that is lacking in India since music is mainly commercial. There are so many things that are wrong in the country and no one is writing songs about them. In other countries, people get personal and write songs about issues affecting them. But it’s only love and item songs in India. Nothing truly comes from the composer’s heart. I hope this inspires people to make music they truly believe in and mean from the heart rather than what others ask them.”
