How Ricky Kej's Work with Celebrated Sound Engineers Led to his Third Grammy Nomination

Divine Tides,' the Bengaluru-based composer's collaborative album with drummer Stewart Copeland is nominated for Best Immersive Audio Album with Eric Schilling and Herbert Waltl

- ANURAG TAGAT

At the upcoming 65th edition of the Grammy awards, Ricky Kej and Stewart Copeland’s album Divine Tides is actually competing with records by Christina Aguilera, The Chainsmokers and more in Best Immersive Audio Album category.

It’s one of the things that genuinely excites Kej, who has previously been nominated in – and won – in the Best New Age Album category of the Grammys for Winds of Samsara and Divine Tides as well. “It was not a genre category [we’re nominated in]. It got nominated for Best Immersive Album across genres. [It] is so diverse and also an opportunity to have Indian music stand up against mainstream western music. It’s great to be a part of that and I’m excited to see the outcome,” Kej adds.

After working on the mixes with a few engineers for Divine Tides, Copeland and Kej decided to take their time to find the right fit and in that process, the album’s new immersive audio version was once again eligible to be nominated for a Grammy. They eventually found mix engineer Eric Schilling and immersive mix producer Herbert Waltl, who share the nomination at the 65th Grammy Awards for