Drum and Bass icon Makoto calls up for a chat before he joins us for Oslo World in October.
A broken beat; a soulful groove and a bass so deep it sounds like it could shake the foundations of hell; Combine all those elements and you get Drum and Bass. There’s an undeniable energy to this music, one that has survived for over thirty years and continues to bring new audiences to it. In 2025 it’s making progress into the charts again with artists like Nia Archives, BOU and Sub Focus crossing over into pop territory, while at its core it remains an underground phenomenon.
One of the original artists still representing the underground, and has been since the start, is Makoto Shimizu. The Japanese artist and DJ has been bringing a depth of soul and funk to the genre in a way nobody else really has since the late 90’s.
Infusing live instrumentation and genres like Jazz, and more recently Disco, into his work, he’s stood as a touchstone for many artist producers and DJs that have arrived after him, especially in Japan.
Some of his earliest EPs and LPs were released via LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking records at a time when demo tapes were still sent via physical mail around the world. A prolific artist, Makoto would go on to do numerous LPs and Eps via Good Looking and later for the likes of Metalheadz before finding himself on Hospital records.
After his 3 LP deal with Hospital came to a close this year, Makoto has extended his reach into other Drum and Bass record marques. “That’s why I’ve been releasing stuff via UKF and my own label recently,” says Makoto via a telephone call. His own label, Human Elements, named after his debut LP, has been an exclusive vehicle for his own music since 2011, and an uncompromising outlet. “With my own label, I just want to do this when I want to do this… I don’t want to make it into a business.“
He is no stranger to the rigours of the business of this music, but he’s maintained a healthy balance between giving the people what they want and provoking the dance floor when necessary.
His collaborations with the likes of Marky pushed him towards the middle of the dance floor while albums like Motions of Change and Souled Out, have dug a little deeper, both in terms of the music and some sense of self-expression.
The Japanese artist made the move to England a few years back, to be closer to the epicentre of a Drum and Bass scene that has only grown in Europe, but has shrunk in Japan. He’s in London when we call him up ahead of his visit to Jaeger for Oslo World. Reserved, yet poignant, Makoto discusses his beginnings, his progression to today and why the eternal appeal of Drum and Bass remains for the artist and DJ.
I want to get stuck into a couple of the most recent things you’ve put out. Watercolour and Free Myself are two very different records released around the same time. Watercolours is more liquid with those house/jungle keys while free Myself has this R&B vocal going through it. What drew you to making those records in the way you did?
To be honest, when I was making those tracks, I wasn’t really thinking about anything. (Laughs) I would say Watercolours is more for my DJ set, and Free Myself I wasn’t really thinking of the dance floor.
I’ve noticed a bit of a trend amongst established DnB artists, to release more music that is intended for listening at home more.
Yeah definitely, that’s definitely a Spotify influence. As much as I don’t want to do it, I have to do it.
Just to stay relevant, I guess?
Yes, to be current.
So do you make music like Free Myself specifically with Spotify in mind?
Yeah, exactly.
I’ve been reading a few recent interviews with you, and on a few occasions you mention Disco’s influence. Is that still a prevalent influence and where does that come from?
I’ve been listening to Jazz, soul and Disco since I started making music, so that’s just part of me. Recently I felt that Boogie and Disco music is really trendy in other genres like House, so I was thinking about putting that essence into Drum and Bass.
How do you do something like that, because Drum and Bass has such specific rhythm structures, a 4/4 would just sound out of place?
In the last 2-3 years in Drum and Bass, people have started putting long 4/4 buildups in their tracks. So I was thinking that I could put some Disco influence on those build-up parts. Some people just listen to the 4/4 bits, thinking it’s happy hardcore (laughs) but if you listen to the whole tune that buildup sounds like Disco.
I know you do listen and appreciate genres like Funk and Soul. How much does that inform what you do in Drum and Bass?
I only listen to Drum and Bass when I DJ. I’m always listening to other genres and I’m always thinking about how I could tie them into Drum and Bass. Drum and Bass can be anything; it can be reggae, it can be Techno, it can be Rock etc.
That’s always been present in your music, from that first LP even Human Elements and especially that LP with those organic sounds.
Exactly.
What has been the biggest shift in terms of making music for you going from an LP like Human Elements to Watercolours for instance?
I don’t feel like I’m making totally different music and wouldn’t say that I was making better music before. I’m making better music now. It’s just been a natural progression. If I were to make Human Elements now, it wouldn’t fit in this time.
Why do you think it’s better today?
Technology and I’m more confident. 20 years ago, I didn’t know what I was doing, to be honest. (laughs) But I had more freedom, because I was so young. Now, I have built up a career, I know what people expect from me and have to live life and I’ve got to pay the bills.
I want to go back to that time, 20 years ago with a young Makoto. Was there a big Drum and Bass scene in Japan at that time?
Drum and Bass was huge in Japan and especially big in Tokyo. All the major (record) companies in Japan started licensing all the big Drum and Bass labels like Metalheadz and Hospital. So they did a big promotion in Japan and Drum and Bass just blew up.
That was the really big labels like Sony, right?
Yes, Sony and Avex.
You were signed to LTJ Bukem’s label, Good Looking, early on. How did you connect with a label like that from Tokyo back then?
I just sent my cassette tapes to them via (physical) mail, because most of the labels would have their address on the records. I think only Good Looking came back to me. There wasn’t even email, so they just sent me a letter, telling me to change some things and I was signed. (laughs)
You were a fan of the label and LTJ Bukem before, so what was it like for a young Makoto to sign to one of his favourite labels?
It was like; wow. I didn’t expect them to come back to me. I couldn’t believe it and at the time I couldn’t speak any English.
Was Drum and Bass all around you in Tokyo to a point where you couldn’t really avoid it or did you still have to go look for it?
It was still underground, but you could do a party in the club with a thousand people and invite an international DJ.
And you were still a teenager at that point?
I was at Uni and I would go to Drum and Bass parties every weekend and go to the record shops to buy Drum and Bass records from the UK.
Do you remember the names of some of those parties and record shops?
There was a party called Drum and Bass Sessions at this legendary Tokyo club called Liquidroom; a 7-story building in Shinjuku in Tokyo. It was quite unique and the soundsystem there was one of the best. From the window you could see the whole of Tokyo.
And what happened to that scene; I guess like everywhere else it got smaller?
Yeah, but Drum and Bass is still there in Japan, it’s always there.
Do you still go back to play there often?
Yes, once a year. I go back to see my family and then I DJ at the same time. The last few years it’s (the scene) been growing again.
I imagine it’s because of a new international interest re-ignited in the genre?
Yes.
Do you remain connected to that scene?
I know everybody in Drum and Bass in Tokyo. I’m also really good friends with the Jazz people in Tokyo.
And they are also involved in Drum and Bass?
No, they are into Disco, Jazz and Funk. When I lived in Tokyo, I also did a lot of Disco and House DJ sets.
What happened when you moved to the UK, did you continue doing those kinds of sets?
No, because I didn’t really have the connection with those styles of music.
What made you move to London eventually?
When I got signed to Hospital (records), most of the gigs were happening in Europe and I was there for six months at a time, and then going back to Japan for six months. I was doing that for a few years, and then I got really tired. There were more opportunities in Europe so I had to move here.
You’ve experienced the same rollercoaster we all have with Drum and Bass, with it going out of the zeitgeist and then coming back again, and now it feels like we’re creeping to the top again. Has it always been a constant for you, or were you also flirting with other musical genres during the low years?
Yes, I was still Djing Drum and Bass, but I was making music that wasn’t quite Dubstep, but it was faster than House and slower than Techno with broken beats. And then I was making Disco and House music with a Japanese producer called DJ Kawasaki. Eventually I was thinking if I’m going to come back to Drum and Bass, I’m going to come back really strong. Then Hospital came around with their offer to sign me.
What was it about Drum and Bass that keeps bringing you back?
It’s this energy that Drum and Bass has that no other genre has. If you experience this energy, you can’t leave. I don’t know what it is, but when Drum and Bass drops, there’s nothing like it. I love other genres, but this energy is just unique to Drum and Bass.
You’ve been signed to Good Looking, Hospital and Metalheadz; these institutions in Drum and Bass. What did you take from those experiences?
I learnt a lot, especially signing to Good Looking was a hard lesson, because they fell apart. Hospital was great, because they were so professional. The industry is always changing. Now social media is a big thing for marketing.
Do you feel you have to adapt constantly to this changing environment, because I don’t feel like you necessarily need to sacrifice anything?
Of course I enjoy it, because it’s not just the same thing for twenty years.
I imagine another thing that keeps it interesting for you is the various collaborations you do with the likes of DJ Marky. Do you take anything into your own work from those collaborations?
DJ Marky is probably one of the top DJs in the world, so I’ve learnt a lot through his attitude to the music and his attitude to how he works. I’ve been working a lot with Marky these days, because we’re actually putting an album together. It’s 70% done, so hopefully next year some time.
How is this different from the stuff you would make?
With Marky, it always starts with his little ideas. He uses a lot of samples and he makes music for the dance floor. He is always thinking about how people would react on a dance floor. It’s a different way of thinking. Sometimes when I make music myself, I go into the details and just make things too complicated. Working with Marky is more simplified.
So will this album be purely focussed on the dance floor?
It’s still a dance floor album, but it will be more musical with our influences from 70’s music. Sort of soulful Drum and Bass. I don’t think there is too much soulful and happy drum and bass out there, so we’re just gonna make what we’re going to make, with a bit of Brazilian and Japanese influence.
When you say Japanese influence, and referring to your music too, do you mean a traditional music influence.
Not traditional. If you listen to Japanese music, and I’m not sure how to explain it, but everything comes correct. We’re very good at copying something and making it our own.
There’s a perfectionism to it.
Yes, exactly.
But you’ve never thought of doing something in a regional musical dialect?
It doesn’t really fit western music. I love it, but I don’t even try. (laughs)