Kaido Kirikmäe (born 06.07.1973 in Viljandi) is one of the more experienced composers,producers, DJs and organizers on the scene of Estonian electronic music.
His musical roots lie in a mixture of punk, indie and psychedelic rock, he has been a member of various bands and projects since the beginning of the 1990s.
Kirikmäe formed his first band, as a guitarist, in 1991 at Särevere borough in the Järva County.The band played punk, indie and metal, and was named Glööd.The other members of it were bass player Markku Kivine (from Loits) and drummer Lauri Pajos (from Mooses).
In these troubled times ,Glööd managed to give a few successful performances, (one at Võru-Kubija songstand where the band became notorious for Kirikmäe's explicit comment on the previous performer, a Nazi punk group – at a later live in Pärnu a gang of Estonian boneheads approached the band and warned it not to repeat any similar ideas) and another at Pärnu Vallikäär (an open-air venue), but then crumbled as Kirikmäe was commandeered into state army.
Back in freedom and at his roots, i.e. music, Kirikmäe was invited to play bass in a Türi band called Bog Bogies that,for its unusually energetic lives, soon achieved a cult status in the circles of the Estonian alternative guitar music.
The band was also notorious for its provokative and ironic attitude towards the indie scene of Tallinn,so much so that the well-known electronic duo Lobsand Dorje refused to perform in the same event with the "bogies".
Bog Bogies' career highlights were a 4-track demo tape (recorded in a dim cellar of Paide by a sound engineer from the local culture centre after the latter had consumed a whole case of beer), a warm-up performances for Metro Luminal, a few interviews in the media, the audience award at Mai Musa Fest in 1996 and an entry into Top Radio charts with a song that Raul Saaremets, a leading figure of the Estonian alternative indie and dance culture, called ‘a song by the 16-year olds’ (though the actual age of the band members was nearing 30).
In the middle of the 1990s Kaido Kirikmäe was a founding member of Acid Complex,the first Estonian trip-hop project ,as well as an instigator and developer of club culture of ambient, house and jungle in Central Estonia. Under the pseudonym Provincialbeat he became a DJ of tapes, vinyls and later on CDs.
Beside Paide he performed in Viljandi and Rakvere and later on at Vibe, the first night in a series of gigantic club shows, wherein he introduced an original DJ set realized in collaboration with the members of Tallinn Krishna Community.
It was also at that time that Kirikmäe, Leho Rubis and Markku Kivine started a weekly radio show of alternative music in Kuma, the local radio station of Järva County. The show was named Govorit Tokyo and apparently it was listened to in Tallinn and Finland as well.The local media also took interest in Kirikmäe, calling him 'a forwarder of underground lifestyle'.
In 1997 Kaido Kirikmäe abandoned Särevere, 'the tower of unemployment, frustration and hooligan drunkards', and moved to Tallinn.
Bog Bogies turned into Dolm which years later became the first release for Kohvirecords ,the oldest independent record label in Estonia. The release was a single called Vacuum and it included several remixes of Dolm's music.After the release and the band‘s quick progress, the group crumbled and Kirikmäe travelled to India for further self-development.
Upon his return he met with Kadi Uibo (Dreamphish, Cloudspeak, Kirtana Rasa) and Rivo Järvsoo (Bad Apples, Picnic) to found Ragatmika, possibly Kirikmäe’s best known project thus far. The group released two albums, One Day This World Will Betray Us and We Will Abandon It (2002) and Katkiminekud (Breakings, 2004).
The band performed at various events and on TV,their best-known track Hüvasti Maa (Goodbye Earth) entered several Estonian music charts.After 4 years the band ceased to be and Kaido took greater interest in creating music on his own.
Turning his guitar and bass into money, Kaido's bedside was soon filled up by a virtual analogue synthesizer Korg Ms 2000 and a sampler-sequencer Korg ES-1.
Since 2004 Kaido Kirikmäe has mainly focused on soloprojects and mostly creates electronic yet organic music that is mainly built on loopstructures. Beside that Kirikmäe acts as a DJ, under his legal name, and in 2002 he founded his own record label Kuurortrecords.
Kirikmäe has performed at several major Estonian music events like Kumu Night, Hea Uus Heli (Brave New Sound), Plektrum, SunDanceMusic Festival, Club UK etc. Gigs abroad should also be mentioned: Latvia, Russia,Poland, Germany, England and Iceland.
Additionally, Kirikmäe has acted as a lecturer at seminars on subcultures and as a host of a weekly chill-out music show Kuurort at a major.Estonian radio station R2.
Kaido Kirikmäe can also be considered the instigator of a thin bridge of friendship between the young musicians of Estonia and Iceland.
Life moves in circles, however, and since 2005 Kirikmäe resides again in Central Estonia.
He works as a DJ at a local radio station and in addition to writing music and organizing events, he grows vegetables and strawberries on his lot.
In spring 2007 Kirikmäe presented his first solo album Lintprii (Outtape) that was released only as a cassette.
