Interview – Makoto

Makoto is one of the reasons why Drum and Bass continues to be a musical representation of enigmatic purpose, and why there is truth in the cliché that music really is universal. Hailing from Tokyo, Makoto has, in many respects, brought DnB to his homeland with his passion, drive, and unwavering creative ability. Traditionally, one does not think of DnB when Japan is brought into a discussion; however Makoto’s very name is intrinsically joined to that of his chosen genre within both his homeland, and the rest of the world.

“In 1995,” Makoto explains, in an accented voice that oozes deliberation and thoughtfulness, “I went to a club and I saw they were playing DnB and I thought what is that?” – which isn’t surprising, perhaps, considering that DnB has in many ways been seen as an anglophonic-central genre. Yet it was from that one visit to a club that lead Makoto to push himself to be a part of the world wide movement.

“I had been making some acid jazz stuff before I was making drum and bass. It was really hard, it took me about three years to create DnB, because there were no DnB producers in Japan at the time and there was no one to tell me what to do,” he says with a laugh. These days, however, DnB is alive and well in Japan, which has also recently seen a compilation album produced. “Recently Tony Coleman from London Elektricity did the Future Sound of Tokyo compilation for Hospital records,” Makoto says. “There were about four or five Japanese producers on there. Actually my brother Akira is a drum and bass DJ as well – he was on the compilation too.” Despite this, however, it seems that the state of play in Japan is still somewhat at a standstill. “It’s been quite the same here for about ten years. It used to be quite big because a major record company supported drum and bass for three years. Since then, it’s been the same – not growing that much.” Which isn’t to say that DnB, as well as Makoto, have not found success within the country, but however that it seems to indicate that perhaps it has still not really found a proper footing.

Perhaps with the advent of his new label however, Makoto will further help the burgeoning Japanese dnb scene. Having been stuck in creative limbo for almost three years, after having several problems with his exclusive deal with the almost-but-not-quite-defunct Good Looking records, Makoto has now broken away and is about to embark on his own label. “I had some problems with Good Looking, and I couldn’t release things,” he says, talking of his three year near-hiatus from being able to put his music out there. I made six tracks with DJ Marky in the past two years. We took three tracks each for both his label and my label. I will release those three tunes on my label in about three months or so. After that, I’ll be working on some collaboration with Deeizm. He then tells of a little known almost-in-limbo tune that he produced with Greg Packer, “We couldn’t release it, but I talked to Greg the other day about the track, and he’s just started his label again, so we are going to release that tune on his label.”

Makoto is used to collaborations however, and it is the collaboration with MC Deeizm that he appears to seem almost feel most contented with. “We got introduced in 2003, and we just got working together and touring together. It just works. I think she’s great. She does singing as well, not just MCing. My music quite needs an MC because it’s quite mellow and there’s enough space to have vocals on my tracks. On my play-list, and the tunes that I play, I really feel like I need an MC in my sets.”

After the conversation, there is no doubt that Makoto is a man who has, and will continue to make, an impact on Drum and Bass. It is easy to often overlook the DJs who make a genre what it is, and Makoto has proven himself to be one of these movers of dnb itself, and it in days where often the bottom line drives the music market, he is still overwhelmingly positive and passionate about its place in our society. “I think musically that dnb is still strong,” he says, and this time there is no thought, only truth. “People still come to the clubs, so it’s still good!” – and if Makoto is on the bill, then there is no doubt that it is.