On Stage With Mau P at Lollapalooza

That set was so incredible to witness. How was it for you?

A little overwhelming, I haven’t played a big show in a while. I’ve played a lot of clubs in Europe. So to be out there in front of a big crowd again … in those first minutes you have to adjust and be like “Ok, I’m playing in front of 20,000 people.” You’ve gotta lock in.

What was the set highlight for you?

My favorite part was playing “Drugs From Amsterdam,” which always goes off because I think it’s my biggest song. But this time it went extra off.

What has been the most pivotal moment for you recently that reflected how big your music has become?

I think the moment that hit home for me was when I played at Coachella and I played this new song that I made. I had sent it to a couple big labels and they were like “Yeah, we don’t really hear the hit in this.” I was like “Let me try it out.” I played it and it went super viral and until this day, people have been asking me “When are you going to release it?” I just posted the release date, August 8th. That was super satisfying. I felt like I was proving them wrong.

It's "Tesla" right? Tell us how it came to be.

It’s one of those songs where I started this idea a long time ago and hated it. But I have this routine where I go back to songs that I hate and I start to love them again. They’ll sound very different from the end result. The first idea was a small loop that I made and then these lyrics that I had. If I zoom out, I can hear how it’s supposed to sound. When I produced it, it finally worked but I first had the idea a year and a half ago. It feels like it produced itself. When I went in, it all came naturally. I feel like sometimes, you get the download from the universe. I think Prince and Michael Jackson used to talk about that. Like if Michael Jackson’s not getting this download, Prince is gonna take it. I got this one and it all happened. And it worked, people seem to like it.

What is something you think people don't know about you or how you've gotten here in your career?

I think a lot of people don’t know how much time I spent before this trying to get to this level. It took ten years. A lot of the stuff you see online might make it look like an overnight thing. I also changed my artist name and then the first song I did was “Drugs From Amsterdam.” It sort of seems like I cheated or had a big financial situation. I had none of that, I just grinded and grinded. At one point, after COVID, I changed my artist name and decided, “I’m gonna embody the music that I’ve always been into.” Which was house and techno. That was a slingshot and then I had to reverse engineer and be less commercial because that’s not what I wanted. But “Drugs From Amsterdam” now has 300 Million Spotify streams or something, which is crazy. I think maybe 20 or 30% of people who follow me know the old name and old songs, but it took me a while. Nothing comes overnight.

Let's go into the future. What do you hope you get to create next?

I hope I make at least one album. That’s a dream of mine, to do an album that tells a story and is more than dropping a single every two or three months. I hope I get to work with a lot of amazing people and artists who are on the same wavelength. I hope we get to push the dance music genre forward. Not even just dance music, but music in general. My goal has always been to contribute something to this planet and all the little people out there making music.

So, I saw a fan get super emotional about meeting you. What's been a recent fun fan experience?

That’s a good question. A while ago when I was doing Maurice West, which was the name I was using before this ... some girl got my logo tattooed on her ass, like right below her ass. She told me that she wanted other men to see that she liked me the most, which is so crazy. But I have a different artist name now and a different logo, so I hope she still feels the same way about me.

What are you most excited to share with fans?

I’m doing my own event called Baddest Behaviour. We started in the US, but now it’s in Ibiza at Pacha. It’s every Wednesday starting next month until the end of the season. We’re doing this in LA at State Historic Park and in New York at Brooklyn Storehouse. I hope it keeps getting bigger and bigger and I want to bring it to Europe too. We’re looking for the coolest venues, outdoor venues. We did it in Brooklyn under the K Bridge, which is still one of my favorite shows to date.

Photography: Nick Nagy, Clay Westcott