From Big Room to Tech House: How Maurice West Became Mau P
Picture this: You’re an EDM producer playing festival mainstages and working alongside leading names in your field. Now picture pulling the plug on that whole project just to start a new one in a new lane of music. That bold turn of events is exactly what Maurits Westveen, aka Maurice West and Mau P, decided to pursue when he transitioned from big room selector Maurice West to Mau P, house music head-turner.
Westveen first began producing at the early age of fourteen. The next eight years would see the Amsterdam native tirelessly pursue a career as a big room DJ and producer under the alias Maurice West. Through diligent resolve, the up-and-comer’s work began to bear fruit. Dreams of performing on the main stages of Ultra and Tomorrowland were realized, and collaborations with heavy hitters like KSHMR, W&W, and Hardwell were released. By all metrics, Maurits was well on his way to becoming a household name in EDM. But when Covid-19 brought festivals and concerts to a screeching halt, a new tide began to turn.
While the Maurice West project had expanded, so had his musical curiosities. The hypnotic thump of techno and the infectious grooves of house had taken hold in Holland, and an extended time free of performance obligations allowed Maurits to learn and explore these new rhythms with old friends.
Years prior, Westveen first taught his friends how to DJ. And as he refined his big room proclivities for international stages, his friends carved out Amsterdam’s burgeoning house and tech scene. Maurits and friends reunited behind the decks during the Covid-19 shutdown, at local house parties. But as Maurits will tell you, “The students now became the teacher.”
These house parties became a classroom in which Maurits could explore his growing interest in house and techno while learning the nuances of the mixing style from his mates. A new love for DJing was born not a moment too soon. Around this time Maurits started to notice a stagnation in his creative process for big room. It felt as though he was running out of ways to push the genre and its culture forward, but every time he turned his attention toward underground sounds, inspiration burst forth.
Maurice West sets began to incorporate tastes of the underground receiving positive crowd feedback. But promoters we left scratching their heads: were they not commissioning a big room EDM act? What were these deep cuts doing in these sets?
Maurits had found the sound that lit new fire in his heart. And with the guidance of his team, he made the difficult decision to leave Maurice West behind.
With no guarantee of success, Westveen launched Mau P, a new project focused on the sounds of the underground. The new alias’ first release, “Drugs From Amsterdam,” took off like a rocket outperforming all previous work as Maurice West. Mau P had arrived.
