Two Brothers rock Tokyo’s Drum ’n’ Bass

scene from the smooth side out.

Words: John Meyer

Tokyo's Dynamic Duo Drum and Bass DJs Makoto and Akira

When thinking of Tokyo, the image of a massive city of lights and action comes to mind. But not in the upper northeast side of Asakusa, and especially not on this lonely, stormy night. After waiting 20minutes at a dimly lit street corner near the station’s main exit, a dark car pulls up and I see the ghostly faces of Japan’s leading drum ’n’ bass DJs, Makoto and his brother Akira.

“Get in.”

Speeding away to their studio on an almost abandoned road, I start chatting away about the nasty weather and how old this part of town looks, when Makoto turns to me with a smile and says, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, he can’t really speak English.”

Samurais in their own country, the duo has made it their mission to spread the love of their style of smooth and soulful D’n’B globally. They both started off t10 years ago playing everything from jazz, hip-hop to ’70s soul and funk. But after hearing the fast and electrifying sounds of jungle and D’n’B, they knew that they could fuse all the styles together to make something unique and special.

Makoto first broke the ice for the family by sending a tape to LTJ Bukem containing two of his tracks. LTJ replied swiftly with a critique and a request to hear the updated version. Within months Makoto was on his way to signing onto LTJ’s label (Good Looking Records) and eventually touring the world. Akira eventually followed suit and was signed to Innerground and Hospital Records.

How old are you two?Makoto: I’m 28.

Akira: 27.

Other than working in music, how else do you spend your time?Makoto: he just finished working as a designer for a website company—he likes designing. And I like shopping for clothes and shoes and stuff like that.

If you were never a DJ and you were at this point in your life right now, what do you think you would be doing?Makoto: I don’t know, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Akira:  I’d be a designer.

Other than drum ’n’ bass, what other kinds of music do you two listen to?Makoto: Basically I am always listening to ’70s music, like soul, rock, everything. Also I like some broken beat stuff.

Akira: Soul, hip-hop, R ’n’ B and reggae.

What do you think of the drum and bass scene in Japan?

Makoto: Actually, about six years ago it used to be quite big, but then it slowed down a bit and now it has started to get bigger again.

How often do you play together?

Makoto: We play together once every three months.

How often do you make tracks together?

Makoto: We mostly make tracks separately but sometimes we collaborate such as on “Skywards,” “Mind Vision” and other tracks.

When you make tracks separately, what is the contrast in your individual styles?

Makoto: My style is soulful and smooth and he is a bit more aggressive.

So you’re like peanut butter and jelly?

Together: Yeah

What is the worst gig that you ever played?

Makoto: Four years ago I played at this all-style New Year’s Eve party in Osaka, and the DJ before me played hip hop and was rocking the crowd.  But when I came on, everyone just left.

Akira: I was at a club in London and I tried to use Final Scratch but it didn’t work and then I tried to use the CDJs but they were broken as well, and the music started skipping.

How many countries have you played in?Makoto: Over 20.

Who is your favorite MC to play with and why?Together: Deeizm. She knows our style of music very well; she flows so naturally and seamlessly.

Akira: Also MC Acchi.

Okay, you’re brothers…when you make tracks together do you sometimes argue?

Together (looking confused): No…

When making tracks, who comes up with the beats and who the rhythm?Makoto: Well you know, it’s case by case.

Why don’t you name your tracks in Japanese?Makoto: I don’t know. It’s harder in Japanese. In Japan all artists name their songs in English so we are not used to naming them in Japanese.

At the moment, hard and heavy drum ’n’ bass is very popular in Japan and in the world. Being dominantly smooth and soulful D’n’B DJs, Is it harder for you to get booked?Makoto: Yeah, I think so. It’s very difficult, and we don’t make that kind of stuff. But when someone is creating a soulful event we have an advantage because there aren’t that many DJs that make our kind of music.

What do you think is the future of soulful D’n’B?Makoto: If many vocal tracks come out, it could be big I think, because it’s like fast R ’n’B or a fast kind of rock. I think that D’n’B needs more vocals in the mix to be really successful.

What do you see yourself doing in the next five or 10years?Makoto: Just keep making and playing D’n’B.

Akira: Yeah, making and playing D’n’B.

What are some of your big projects in the future?

Makoto: In November Deezim and I are touring the USA. We have not been there in a while and we want to promote.

Akira: I have some tracks coming out on Innerground and Hospital records.

Tokyo is a big city with many different kinds of places. Where can someone generally find you two hanging out?

Makoto: Akihabara (the main electronics city in Japan)—we like to check out all the new equipment and gear.

What’s your next big project together?Makoto: We are currently spending a lot of time and energy developing our new label called Human Elements (www.humanelements.jp).  On this label, we are going to push our sound and other upcoming soulful artists. It’s really thrilling and we can’t wait to be up and going.