Almost a year after Hugh Hardie set the Ääniwalli dancefloor on fire during his debut Finnish set, Liquid Helsinki is back with our biggest night to date. Originally from Japan and now based in London, legendary Makoto has been big in the scene for almost two decades. His recent album ‘Salvation’ received praise from across the industry for big tunes like ‘Salvation’ ft DRS and ‘I Don’t Wanna Wake Up’ ft Karina Ramage. Fresh from a tour of New Zealand, he is ready to bring his new sound to Finland and will be rinsing out the sound system at Ääniwalli in October.
MAKOTO (HOSPITAL RECORDS)
WISPY (ETKOPLASMA, STANDARD HKI)
PHYSICS (MAC2, FOCUZ, LIQUID V)
ST. LAURENT (SCIENCE HKI, BASSO)
SAMPSTERRR (LIQUID HELSINKI)
19.10.2018 / 10 - 05
Ääniwalli, Pälkäneentie 13, 00510 Helsinki
Pre-sale tickets - 10,50€ on tiketti.fi (available soon)
On the door - 12€ before midnight / 15€ after
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MAKOTO (HOSPITAL RECORDS)
Makoto Shimizu, more widely known simply as “Makoto”, is a testament to the international scope and power of electronic music. Born and raised in Tokyo, Makoto was influenced at a young age by a wide variety of music ranging from classical to soul and funk. Upon hearing the soundtrack to The Last Emperor by the academy award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, Makoto was so inspired that he made a life-changing decision – to pursue a career in music.
He went on to complete an Acoustic Engineering major at Nippon University, and having been introduced to drum and bass through listening to the radio shows of Giles Peterson on Kiss FM and BBC Radio 1, Makoto began experimenting with the genre through his own compositions. To him the appeal of this relatively new form of music was simple – drum and bass was just “very futuristic and cool”. His productions were of such quality that they caught the attention of none other than the legendary LTJ Bukem, who went on to sign Makoto to his seminal Good Looking Records imprint in 1999.
To paraphrase a lyric from one of his most famous tracks, music has never let Makoto down. Since that fateful signing in 1999, Makoto has gone on to be one of the most highly respected artists in the genre, pushing his unique blend of fast breaks and soul-drenched music to every corner of the globe as both a DJ and a producer. His discography includes 3 LPs, Live DJ Mix, a large number of EPs and numerous tracks featured on the world famous “Earth” and “Progression Sessions” compilation albums. Some of his most notable releases include his debut album “Human Elements”, which was released in 2003 and was widely praised for bringing the feeling of 70s soul music into the 21st century, and “Progression Sessions: Japan Live 2003”, which introduced his dynamic musical partnership with talented female vocalist Deeizm to the world. He achieved industry-wide acclaim through his powerful collaboration with LTJ Bukem’s ever present stage partner MC Conrad in 2005 through “Golden Girl”. The track was widely praised and played by DJs across the many sub-genres of drum and bass and became a certified genre anthem all over the world.
Incidentally, Golden Girl and 2nd Album “Believe In My Soul” were to be one of Makoto’s final releases for Good Looking Records. With a slightly different direction and more creative freedom in mind, Makoto began to release music for other labels such as DJ Zinc‘s Bingo Beats, London Elektricity‘s Hospital Records, Fabio‘s Creative Source and of course, DJ Marky‘s Innerground Records. His musical connection with Marky runs deep, and was solidified with his very own mix cd released on Marky’s label in 2009 titled “DJ Marky & Friends presents Makoto”. The pair went on to collaborate and release a number of tracks together the most recent being the 12 inch single “Aquarius / Good Old Days”.
Alongside this hefty release timeline and a touring schedule jam-packed with gigs across Asia, Europe, UK and USA, Makoto has been busy setting up his own label – HE:Digital. Focusing mainly on digital releases, the label has given Makoto an opportunity to not only release his own material, but that of others as well. In 2010 he released the compilation album “HE:Possibilities” through the label. The release was aimed at drawing attention to up and coming producers from Japan. More recently, he was proud to put out the charity compilation album “Something We Can Do” where all profits were donated to the Red Cross in Japan to help the victims of the tragic tsunami and earthquake which struck the country.
Together with these releases, the full-length album for brand new label Human Elements titled “Souled Out” featured many talented vocalists and session musicians, and is a culmination of the breadth of experience and talent Makoto brings to each track which credits his name. 2018 sees the next chapter for Makoto who is now signed exclusively to Hospital Records. There is no doubt this year will definitely be another milestone in the prolific musician’s already widely acclaimed career.
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WISPY (ETKOPLASMA, STANDARD HKI)
Ville Penttinen: aka Wispy, has been a notable part of the Finnish Drum & Bass scene for over a decade. Nowadays he lives in Helsinki, Finland and he runs a radio show called Etkoplasma at Basso and also monthly club nights in Tampere and Helsinki with guys like L.A.O.S. and Rico Tubbs.
Wispy began spinning records back in 2002 pushing the more House and Trance beats. However, he established his roots quickly after Drum & Bass captivated this young talent. For Wispy, there was no turning back. Over the following years his technical skills soared and proof was awarded by winning the 2006 Drum & Bass DJ competition arranged by the Tampere based organisation '33100'. With 2006 being a successful year, 2007 brought even more! Wispy worked his way to become a winner in Helsinki's now annual 'Laserpoint 2008 DJ Competition' (The biggest dj competition in Finland). In the year of 2011 Wispy was the first guest ever at the YleX XmiX show (Essential mix of Finland) and since that he has done a new guest mix to the show every year.
These days Wispy’s D&B tastes revolve around uplifting, groovy and rolling dancefloor killers with Jazz influences and big basslines. This DJ seems to always come equipped with a tastefully packed record bag... always finding a solution to play for any kind of occasion. His aim is clearly to bring good vibes to any dancefloor and build up an atmosphere to raise the roof!
Producer/DJ Physics doesn't need much of an introduction to those who follow drum & bass. He has released his trademark sound on labels like Metalheadz (Goldie), Secret Operations (Seba), Blindside, Fokuz, Jerona Fruits, Jerona Dubs, Phuzion, Phuturistic Bluez, Planet Funk, Vampire Records (Source Direct) and Pivotal Entertainment and a bunch of other labels. He also set up Finland based label Midnight Sun Recordings and is a co-founder of the digital download shop www.digital-tunes.net. He started producing in the late 90s and soon after released his first 12". Physics music has been supported by international DJ’s such as LTJ Bukem, Goldie, DJ Storm, Nookie, Marcus Intalex, Marky&XRS, D-Bridge, Randall, Bryan Gee, Seba, Makoto, Phil Source Direct, and many more. Being a busy DJ he constantly tours different parts of the world bringing his unique take on the global sound of drum & bass to the party.
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ST. LAURENT (SCIENCE HKI, BASSO)
The man with surprises in every sleeve. St. Laurent got a pair of decks and a mixer back in 2007 and has been lost deep in the depths of jungle ever since. His selections cover the most interesting atmospheric and deep dnb rollers as well as the cheesiest Summer liquid tunes. He’s a part of the mighty Science HKI crew who run their regular radio show on Basso Radio. Expect nothing else than a cheeky mixture of tunes and don’t forget your raving sneakers!
Our resident DJ can mostly be found at Helsinki UG parties bringing the drum & bass vibes. He loves heavy liquid rollers but also likes to get grimy and will be sure to get the dancefloor moving every time.