The nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards were announced on Friday. Ricky Kej, a three-time Grammy winner, earned a nomination in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album category for his album Break of Dawn. Kej is no stranger to using his music as a vehicle for raising awareness on environmental issues. However, his latest album, Break of Dawn, takes a different direction, focusing on mental wellness and the connection between our inner peace and the environment around us. In an exclusive interview with NDTV, the musician shared the story behind Break of Dawn and revealed the inspiration and philosophy that shaped this album. What's more, Kej is taking this vision a step further, collaborating with Stanford Global Health and the Stanford School of Bio Design to begin clinical trials to investigate how Break of Dawn can have a positive impact on health.
"I am collaborating with the Stanford Global health and Stanford School of Bio Design to further this cause, and we are starting clinical trials in patients to see how Break of Dawn has positive affect on health and the importance science backing and we will reach a stage hopefully in near future where doctors can actually prescribe 'Break of Dawn to their patients just how they prescribe physiotherapy and medicines. In addition to that Stanford University Stanford Global Health, they have given a citation to 'Break of Dawn'. They have congratulated me for creating this music and they have said that this music is indeed India-rooted wellness music which can elevate the global burden of mental health," Ricky Kej told NDTV.
He further said, "Actually, it's an interesting story. I think the year was 2015. I was watching this programme called Samwad which is a Hindu Buddhist conclave. And Prime Minister Modi was speaking in that conclave. He happened to say this quote that imbalances and impurities of the environment are a direct reflection of impurities of the mind. And that sort of quite struck me that it's pretty obvious that its true and then I realised that it is basically in ancient Indian and Buddhist philosophy that the impurities of the environment is the reflection of the mind and in order to purify the environment one needs to first purify the mind."
"If you think of it logically it's absolutely true. That is when I set out to creating music which talks about mental wellness and which eliminates metal stress. I started off though Indian rooted wellness musical forms that is Indian raags. I selected nine raags and I did nine pieces of music based on these raags. And that exactly what this album is 'Break of Dawn'. It's India rooted wellness through music," Kej added.
When asked about the ideal setting for listening to the album, Ricky Kej pointed to the traditional belief in the power of Brahma Muhurat - the time just before dawn when the mind is most receptive to positive influences. He said, "I don't know much about Brahma Muhurat but what I can say is that I am 100% sure if anybody listens to this album...It is one hour long with 9 songs...if anybody listens to this album I can challenge you that they will come out from listening to this album feeling a lot better, a lot more joyful, less stressed and a lot happier. That I can assure."
Ricky Kej also spoke about his own approach to mental wellness. Despite the pressures of his highly successful career, the musician shared that he does very little to consciously manage his own mental health. "I do very little actually, which is not the right thing. For me, my passion has been music, since the time I remember. Ever since a child, I've always been a musician. I don't remember a time in my life when I was not playing a musical instrument," he revealed.
ICYDK, Ricky Kej, who won his first Grammy in 2015 for Winds of Samsara with Wouter Kellerman, earned his second Grammy in 2022 for Divine Tides, his album with The Police's Stewart Copeland. Both were honoured in the Best New Age Album category and Kej's third Grammy came in 2023 for the immersive audio version of Divine Tides, which won Best Immersive Audio Album.
For Grammys 2025, his album has been pitted against Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn by sitarist, singer-songwriter and composer Anoushka Shankar, Warriors of Light by Indian-origin artist Radhika Vekaria and Triveni by entrepreneur and artist Chandrika Tandon, created with flautist Wouter Kellerman and cellist Eru Matsumoto.