Alex Seaver, better known by his stage name Mako, is an American music producer and DJ from Los Angeles. The project Mako originally started as a duo with producer Logan Light, who left the group in 2017. Mako rose to prominence in the electronic dance music scene from their single "Beam", which was remixed by

Dannic Daan Romers (; born 10 November 1985), better known by his stage name Dannic (stylized: DɅNNIC), is a Dutch DJ and EDM producer. He is known for his work in collaborations with Hardwell, Dyro, Sick Individuals, and publishes his music through ...

Revealed Recordings Revealed Recordings (or shortened to Revealed, stylized as revealed) is a Dutch record label established by Hardwell in 2010. The label is headquartered in Breda, Netherlands. History The label was established on 11 April 2010 by electronic music ...

and played at festivals worldwide.

Career

2011: Formation of Mako

Before an introduction was made, the two artists spent their early life progressing musically in different worlds. Both members' fathers were paired as roommates at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and were good friends. Logan Light, who was part of Mako, went to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City before heading for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He attended the university, majored in communications and graduated in 2011. While his parents were reluctant to accept his career choice (of DJing), they eventually lent Light some money so that he could buy some

DJ equipment A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

such as

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

to play at parties. His career blew up when he started to book gigs and associate with world-known DJs like Above & Beyond and

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German disc jockey, DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaise ...

. Within only several years, Light had opened for some of dance music's biggest international acts, including Tiesto and

Avicii Tim Bergling (; 8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii (, ), was a Swedish DJ, remixer and music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...

. Seaver attended

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

on full scholarship as musician. Having played with some of the world's elite classical artists in the most storied of venues, he knew he was destined for an unusual path. Upon graduating school in New York City, Seaver moved to Los Angeles after being selected for the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

scholarship workshop for scoring music to film and television. He is also a singer-songwriter and regularly contributes vocals to Mako's songs. Mako was formed after the 2011 Electric Daisy Carnival when Light invited to Seaver to "witness his world". Light spoke of Seaver in an interview, saying "Thankfully, Alex has the brain of a musical genius. He hates when I say this, but he probably is the most talented musical person I've ever met. And none of what we do would be possible without him. I mean he's the brain of it all, and I'm lucky to be along for the ride.

Musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

is his world, and every once in a while I add my two cents and he says, 'Oh that's smart,' but that's his cup of tea, not mine." Since their start, Mako has built a working relationship with

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

, quickly finding themselves in studio with some of

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

's top artists such as

Sander van Doorn Sander Ketelaars (; born 28 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sander van Doorn () or the initials SvD, is a Dutch electro house DJ and record producer from Eindhoven. Background Sander van Doorn began his recording career in 200 ...

R3hab Fadil El Ghoul ( ar, فضيل الغول; born 2 April 1986), performing under the stage name R3hab (stylized in all caps as R3HAB; pronounced "rehab"), is a Dutch-Moroccan disc jockey and music producer. Ranked at number 12 on the DJ Mag Top 1 ...

DubVision DubVision is a Dutch DJ duo from The Hague consisting of brothers Victor (born 1989) and Stephan Leicher (born 1981) signed to the labels Spinnin' Records, Armada Music and Axtone. Biography Stephan and Victor's parents pressured the duo to l ...

and many others. Mako's first label release, "Into the Light" featuring

was released on Dutch label

Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...

. It reached number 3 on the

Beatport Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that can be used ...

Top 100 chart in one week and remained in the top 5 for over two weeks.

2013–2015: Debut single with Sander van Doorn

On May 13, 2013, Mako released their debut single with

and

titled "Into the Light" featuring Mariana Bell. An official music video was uploaded on

' YouTube channel nine days later. On December 16, 2013, they released "Beam" as a single which was mixed by

. An official music video for the song was uploaded by

' YouTube channel three days later. On August 12, 2014, they released a single titled "Our Story" along with an official music video on YouTube uploaded by

Ultra Records Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...

. A remixes EP of the song was also released. On February 24, 2015, they released " I Won't Let You Walk Away" featuring

Madison Beer Madison Elle Beer (born March 5, 1999) is an American singer. Born in New York, she began posting covers to YouTube in early 2012. Beer gained substantial media coverage when Justin Bieber posted a link to one of her covers. She released her d ...

. An official music video was uploaded on the same day. On August 14, 2015, they released "Smoke Filled Room" as a single via Ultra Records. Later, they released a remixes' single of the song along with an acoustic version and two more remixes. An official music video of the song was uploaded by Ultra Records' YouTube channel five months later. An official music video for the acoustic version was also released by Ultra Records. Mako featured in

Steve Angello Steven Patrik Josefsson Fragogiannis ( el, Στέφεν Πάτρικ Γιόζεφσον Φραγκόγιαννης; born 22 November 1982), better known by his stage name Steve Angello, is a Greek-Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and record ...

's song titled "

Children of the Wild ''Wild Youth'' is the debut studio album by Swedish DJ and music producer Steve Angello. It was released worldwide on 22 January 2016 via Size Records. The album features collaborations with the vocalists: Alex Aris, Andrew Watt (musician), Andrew ...

". A music video was uploaded on Steve Angello's YouTube channel.

2016–present: Debut album and departure of Light

On April 21, 2016, "Into The Sunset" was released as a single on YouTube. On October 25, 2016, Mako announced that their debut upcoming album, "Hourglass". On November 19, 2016, they released the single "Let Go Of The Wheel". On December 9, 2016, they released their debut studio album, "

Hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

" via Ultra Records. On March 6, 2017, Light shared a handwritten note that stated he would be taking a break from touring with Mako during 2017, leaving Seaver as a solo act (with a backing back) on their tour that year. At some point during the year after the announcement, Mako officially became a solo act, with Seaver releasing "Breathe" in December as a solo artist. In an interview on January 26, 2018, Alex Seaver discussed the details of Logan Light leaving the group. "What actually happened was he was in law school for the last couple years, killed it, passed the bar, and then got a huge offer at an amazing firm. The dynamic between us was so different than most people. I actually made all the music, all the way back from 'Beam' until now, and then he would meet me on weekends and be kind of the leader of the DJ set. So he would prepare the set, I would write all the music, and then at almost the right moment, his life took off in a different direction while I started making other stuff other than dance music." On February 13, 2018, a collaboration between Kill the Noise,

Illenium Nicholas Daniel Miller (born December 26, 1990), professionally known as Illenium, is an American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has released four studio albums, his most recent being '' Fallen Embers'', released in July 2021. It earne ...

and Mako, titled "

Don't Give Up on Me ''Don't Give Up on Me'' is a studio album by American R&B/Soul singer Solomon Burke, recorded and released in 2002 on Fat Possum Records. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. It is noteworthy for the contributions ...

", was released as single via Proximity. The song was initially leaked in the

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

community by fans who revealed the link to the then-unreleased version of the song that was published on Mako's YouTube channel.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Remixes

Production credits

References

Notes

* A Did not enter the Ultratop 50, but peaked on the Dance Bubbling Under chart.

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mako American DJs American house musicians American electronic musicians Living people Progressive house musicians University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Revealed Recordings artists Spinnin' Records artists Ultra Records artists Electronic dance music DJs Year of birth missing (living people)