British multi-instrumentalist, producer/remixer, DJ, and artist.
Once nicknamed the 'Herbie Hancock of the UK' by DJ
Benji B due to his keyboards prowess, Tatham is a true innovator and virtuoso in sound production, as one of the original creators of the West London broken beat sound.
Born and raised in Redditch, just south of Birmingham, UK and classically trained from a young age, Tatham moved to London in 1993 to study for a BTEC in Performing Arts. Here he met
Kester Lydon, a fellow keyboard player, who went on to connect him to a new world of musical minds and ideas. Of many people he was introduced to,
Jake Wherry of
The Herbaliser was his first performance credit on release "[url=https://www.discogs.com/master/353042-The-Herbaliser-The-Real-Killer-Blowin-It]Blowin' It [/url]" (1995), and while spending time at Lydon and Wherry's West London studios, Tatham met some of the original members of what went on to become
Bugz In The Attic and 'the rest is history' as they say.
BITA member
Alex Phountzi remembers, 'I met Kaidi when I was 19 years old. We were working on an early track from our
Neon Phusion project and Kaidi, who was working in
The Herbaliser's studio next door, came in to check out what we were up to. I think we needed a new bass line on a track we were working on, Kaidi put his hands on a keyboard and started playing something and locked in immediately. We all clicked musically and as friends, and at this point, the
Bugz In The Attic crew was just taking shape.' Immersing himself in this newfound creative scene, Tatham soon went on to make another invaluable connection through fellow BITA member
Mark Lipka (aka
Mark Force and
G Force), who connected him with
Dego (Reinforced Records co-founder and one half of
4Hero) where the two formed a strong musical bond, collaborating to this day.
Along with his earlier work with BITA and continued work with Dego and extended Reinforced Records connections, he also DJ's globally, and has done pioneering work for London production outfits like
DKD,
Silhouette Brown,
Blakai,
Likwid Biskit,
Neon Phusion, and under
Agent K (his own alias); quietly proving himself as one of the most influential British musicians of his time.
Over the years, his musical prowess has gone-on to bless many projects, including with DJ
Jazzy Jeff, and
Andrew Ashong, along with session work for artists such as
Amy Winehouse,
Mulatu Astatke,
Slum Village,
Soul II Soul, and
Leroy Burgess, as well as Reinforced Records label mates such as
Eric Lau, [a=Children Of Zeus], and
Darkhouse Family, with later work on labels like Reinforced Records, Reinforced Records, and
Theo Parrish's Reinforced Records, et al.
His second solo album "In Search Of Hope" (2008), and the first under his own name following
Agent K's "Feed The Cat" (2002), pushes the musical boundaries of electronic dance music rarely heard today, retaining its contemporary London influences it allowed Tatham to stretch out musically in a way he hadn’t done on record before, with the majority of the tracks not in the standard 4/4 time signature that most contemporary dance music follows, and some switch between a handful of different time signatures over the course of a few minutes, his virtuosity never gets in the way of coherent groove, melody, harmony, and arrangement. Originally released on Japanese label Reinforced Records, from Tokyo, and recorded on a modest set up at his flat in south London, it became a holy grail record for dance music fans and jazz heads alike, with its mythical status spurred-on by not being available digitally until 2020.
Influencing countless musicians/producers who heard the album, in more recent years Tatham's efforts there have been felt outside his immediate musical realm, epitomised when track "Orbit" from album "Feed The Cat" (2002) was sampled on
Freddie Gibbs &
Madlib's track "Flat Tummy Tea" (2019) from album "Bandana" (2019). Madlib said, 'Kaidi was ahead of his time with that album, and he still is. I love that loop and I’m happy we could use it. Kaidi is my brother, he loves what we do, and we love him.'
Along with more 12"/singles projects, he continues to grow on later albums. From "An Insight To All Minds" (2018), on to "An Insight To All Minds" (2021) (via "Find Another Way" (2021) with cohort
Matt Lord), and latterly with "Don't Rush The Process" (2022).
