Makoto

Makoto (born Makoto Shimizu, 1977, Tokyo) is a Japanese drum and bass producer and DJ who works primarily in drum and bass, jungle and liquid funk. He studied acoustic engineering at Nippon University and is based in Tokyo. He rose to international prominence after signing to LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking label in 1999 and has released music on Good Looking and Hospital Records.

Makoto’s entry into the scene followed formal training: his background in acoustic engineering at Nippon University is a documented fact and appears repeatedly in profiles of his career. The 1999 signing to Good Looking marked his first major international exposure; that association positioned him alongside the label’s atmospheric and jazz-leaning output and helped establish his name outside Japan.

As a producer Makoto’s sound is recognisably liquid and jazz-influenced. Tracks attributed to him characteristically use extended jazz-chord voicings, warm electric-piano/Rhodes textures, and melodic top-lines layered over rolling drum programming. His arrangements favour clear midrange instrumentation and controlled low-end weight, yielding a polished mixdown that foregrounds tonal detail as well as groove. Producers and listeners cite the soulful harmonic content and smooth pad work as recurring features in his productions.

On the DJ side, Makoto is credited as a DJ as well as a producer. His DJ sets and mixing approach documented in coverage of his performances emphasise harmonic selection and gentle transitions between tracks, prioritising musical flow and phrasing that complement his own studio aesthetics. When playing liquid and jazz-leaning drum and bass, he tends to sequence tracks to highlight melodic development and sustained atmosphere rather than abrupt cut-and-drop tactics.

Career milestones tied to verifiable sources include the 1999 Good Looking signing and subsequent releases on that label and on Hospital Records; these label credits appear across interviews and discography listings. Those releases and label associations are the concrete markers of his role in the scene: they show him operating both as a producer releasing on prominent drum and bass imprints and as a DJ representing that style in recorded mixes and live sets.

Concrete influences often mentioned in profiles are the jazz and soul traditions reflected in his harmonic choices and the Good Looking-era sound of atmospheric, intelligent drum and bass; those connections are explicit in his early label association with LTJ Bukem’s imprint and in descriptions of his work. Publicly available biographical detail beyond the facts above is limited; the verified points remain his Tokyo origins (born 1977), his acoustic engineering studies at Nippon University, his dual role as producer and DJ, and his releases on Good Looking and Hospital Records following the 1999 signing to Good Looking.