Filmworld
India not primary market for my music: Grammy winner Ricky Kej
Bengaluru-based musician Ricky Kej, who was honoured with a Grammy
Award, says his home country is not the main market for his music. He
is, however, ready to compose for a Bollywood movie if the script moves
him emotionally.
His 2014 release "Winds of Samsara", for which
he won the Best New Age Album trophy at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards
earlier this month at Los Angeles, debuted at number one on the US
Billboard charts.
The album became popular in the US much before he walked home with the prestigious golden gramophone.
"We
remained in the top 10 for 12 weeks and it is one of highest selling
instrumental albums of 2014. Even on radio, we debuted at number one.
So, the album was already extremely popular before the Grammy
nomination.
"About sales in India, I am not aware of
any of the figures because India has never been a primary market for my
music," Kej told IANS in an email interaction.
He has been vocal about piracy affecting the artistes in India.
Suggesting
what can be done to curb it, the 33-year-old said: "I think two things
need to be done -- the anti-piracy laws that exist need to be enforced
very strongly and awareness needs to be created that piracy is not a
victimless crime. The victim is the artiste."
The
Grammy-winning album, which spotlights the musical, cultural and
political connections between India and South Africa from late freedom
fighters Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson Mandela, is a collaboration with South
African flutist Wouter Kellerman.
This certainly isn't the end of collaboration between the two musicians.
"I
definitely plan to do another collaboration with Wouter. 'Winds of
Samsara' was a fantastic debut collaboration. We have not started
recording the new one nor do we have a theme in mind yet. But we hope to
release the album in 2017," said Kej, who has 12 albums under his belt.
He promises that the new album "will be a heavily orchestral project and much more ambitious than 'Winds of Samsara' ".
If
all works out as planned, the composer, who enjoys genres that involve
fusion, cultures and exotic instruments, will also get a chance to work
with Hollywood filmmakers.
Asked if post his Grammy win, he was approached by any Hollywood filmmaker, he said: "Yes, two filmmakers."
He
says Hollywood interests him as he loves "working on scores involving
large orchestras. In terms of score, one can draw from personal
experience and emotions to create beautiful melodies, which work with
the film".
But that doesn't mean he has shut the doors on the Hindi film industry.
"I
would definitely do a Bollywood movie if the script connected with me
on an emotional level because then my music would be truly from the
heart," said Kej.
He is also impressed with the rise of electronic dance music in the country.
"EDM
is a great form of music. The tools to make this form of music is
available cheaply and you are limited only by your imagination. I have
listened to some of the EDM music created in India and I think it's
excellent," said the musician, who grew up listening to rock music.
(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at [email protected])