Three-time Grammy Award-winning composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej is taking his biggest Indian live show yet to audiences across the country. Titled DAMROOH – Dance To The Cosmic Spirit, the arena tour will bring together orchestral music, electronic sounds, Indian folk and traditional music with an immersive visual production.
That experience informs his views on how Asian music is categorised and represented at the Grammys, particularly amid the discussion around the newly introduced Asian Pop category and BTS submitting their album ARIRANG for consideration. The idea behind the tour comes from something much older than the technology that will power it. Ricky has built the show around the damru, an instrument closely associated with Lord Shiva and Indian spirituality. For him, it also connects naturally with the environmental themes that have been central to his music for years. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Ricky spoke about why the damru became the starting point for the tour, his concerns about the way Asian music is represented at the Grammys , and why he believes traditional Indian musicians need to rethink the live concert experience. The scale of DAMROOH is considerably larger than a conventional orchestral concert. The show is being designed around a fully seated audience, a large ensemble and an elaborate production setup. That also means the musicians have to work with considerable precision to make the different elements of the performance come together. Ricky’s perspective on the global music industry is shaped by his own Grammy journey. A three-time Grammy winner, including two wins forDivine Tides, he has experienced the awards from within rather than simply observing them from the outside.
He draws on his own Grammy experience to explain why he prefers categories that are open to artists regardless of where they come from. He points to Pandit Ravi Shankar to explain what he sees as the gap between recognising an artist’s importance and actually engaging with their music. Nobody can name an album. And you ask them to name one of his songs. Nobody will be able to name a song. For Ricky, this does not necessarily mean audiences are uninterested in traditional music. Instead, he believes the way the music is packaged and presented needs to evolve with audiences. That could include technology, visuals, storytelling and a stronger sense of occasion.
You ask them to name one of his albums, and he’s done more than 70. Because the immersive audio album I won against Christina Aguilera and The Chainsmokers, he adds, “The categories which I won, they are mainstream categories like I won in best new age, which anybody from any region in the world can win that particular award, and similarly, I won for best immersive audio album, which also anybody can win.
He says, “Even if I ask anybody on the street, everybody will acknowledge that he’s one of the greatest musicians ever in the history of India… but you ask that same person who acknowledged that he’s the greatest musician. A great musician can still deliver an exceptional performance, but Ricky feels that today’s concertgoers increasingly expect something more from the music.
