'Pushed to the brink, we're willing to fix our actions'

The pandemic has made evident that people can alter habits. Eco warrior-musician Ricky Kej wants climate change tackled with similar urgency

Ricky Kej tackles the questions we pose to him with words that we can hear, and a mental background score that only he can hear. This isn't a fable that we're fabricating, but precisely what the musician tells us when we discuss which role he plays first — that of a musician, or an environmentalist — when creating songs on pressing issues. "A background score is always being composed in my mind, regardless of the situation," he says, adding that as he moves from country to country, experiencing, sensing, and learning about the damage caused to the environment, his music continues to reinvent itself.

It was on two specific occasions that he felt a profound harmony between his music and his emotional state. "I visited the Kiribati islands in the South Pacific when the United Nations intergovernmental panel declared that it would eventually be submerged due to climate changes. It struck me that this country, for no fault of its own, would be submerged because [other countries continue] to throw fossil fuels into the atmosphere, and cause global warming. During the three weeks that I spent there, I fell in love with their culture and traditions, and [it ached to learn] that in 30 to 40 years, the 21 islands would be evacuated. So, I made the song Samsara for them, and got the President [of] India to tell our politicians that the policies [they] make here, will affect those across the border."

Neeti Mohan

Another similar amalgamation of art and emotion came about when he created Gaja, following the news of a pregnant elephant's death after it ate a pineapple stuffed with explosives. The "knee-jerk reaction" that followed was the quintessential response seen from the masses. "Urban dwellers are easily inconvenienced without electricity and phones, but, all the equipment and machinery to facilitate [their making] comes from the forest. When we cut forests, elephants have nowhere to go," he says, adding that villagers cannot be entirely blamed for protecting their land. "If we are the ones destroying the forests, we are the ones to blame. The song spoke of the fact that the pain and suffering that we inflict on nature will eventually be endured by us too."

Following his Grammy Award win in 2015, Kej decided to use his music to focus attention on environmental concerns. The occurring amid the pandemic, which has locked people indoors whilst lending nature a new lease of life, must then serve as sufficient fodder for relevant creations. "But, you can't focus on the silver lining in this situation because people continue to die. I don't like that narrative. Although, this has proved that in the face of imminent danger to the lives of our loved ones and ourselves, we're willing to take drastic steps. So far, governments emphasised that strong decisions against the economy [wouldn't be welcomed] by the people, and people said humans are not capable of behavioural change. But, the problem essentially is that climate change is not being portrayed as an immediate danger to mankind. In reality, it is a bigger existential threat than we have ever faced; it's bigger than this pandemic."

Benny Dayal render the tracks Jaago and Gaja, respectively, in Ricky Kej's album

It is perhaps this narrative, and other similar crucial aspects that will be highlighted in his soon-to-be released 13-track album that features songs rendered by Neeti Mohan, Benny Dayal, Shankar Mahadevan, Salim Merchant, and Kailash Kher, among other artistes. As much as he hopes this album "becomes mainstream", his selection from Bollywood's top brass wasn't done with the aim of grabbing eyeballs, but owing to his desire to collaborate with singers he has always admired.

The experience of bringing together this bunch amid the lockdown warrants a separate discussion. "Technologically-forward" Jonita Gandhi sent her vocals from Canada, while Mohan recorded her portions on an iPhone at a remote farmhouse. "Usually, I wouldn't even use an inexpensive mic that would cost less than R40,000 for my songs. Here, I was using an iPhone recording, which actually sounded great," he laughs. Instead of recording the sounds of nature, he chooses to use the piano, flute, strings and vocals to depict them. "It makes the numbers musically evocative. The album is wholesome when it comes to the styles of music employed. I believe it's my best work till date."

Ricky Kej

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