Mau P

From:Amsterdam

DJ style:“Tech-house, house, techno.”

Best known for:“’Drugs From Amsterdam’.”

The last two years have seen the life of Maurits Westveen, aka Dutch producer and DJ Mau P, turned upside down courtesy of his massive tech-house grinder ‘Drugs From Amsterdam’, which came out on Lee Foss’s Repopulate Mars label in 2022 and currently has around 200 million streams. ‘Drugs…’ shot Mau straight into the big time, landing him remix jobs for Swedish House Mafia, Armand van Helden and Calvin Harris, and he’s continued his rise as a producer in 2024. This year saw a second Mau P release on Repopulate Mars, the futuroid tech-swagger of Beatport #1 ‘BEATS FOR THE UNDERGROUND’; his big tech-house vocal tune — sung by Mau himself — ‘On Again’, and his tech-house/rap hybrid summer hit collaboration with Diplo featuring lyrics from Gunna, ‘Receipts’.

Mau spent much of his summer DJing his blend of big room house, tech-house and techno at Ushuaïa, Hï Ibiza and Amnesia, and jetting between club and festival gigs in Paris, Madrid, Miami, Cologne and more including a memorable B2B with Nic Fanciullli at London’s KOKO. The next step was his own event, and this year Mau successfully designed and launched his own raves, the enticingly named Baddest Behaviour.

Fave tune of 2024?

“Joy Orbison ‘flight fm’.”

Rising star DJ/producer of 2024?

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Faustix

From:Denmark

DJ style: “Big techno.”

Best known for: “Collaboration with Diplo, Faustix, Imanos and Kai called ‘Revolution’.”

Everything about 2024 was big and bold for Faustix. The Danish dance music lifer found a new sound over the course of the past year, where ropey and dramatic arpeggios dart in and out of brash techno kicks and every drop feels like barreling down a dopamine rollercoaster. Each release seemed to push the envelope further and further — from the soaring emotions of ‘Lead Me To Love You’ with vocalist Mougleta to ‘All My Friends Are Hot’, whose cheeky vocal flip (“All my friends are hot and only listen to techno”) was the perfect summer festival anthem. Add to that a teased remix of Belgian Stromae ‘Alors on danse’ and it’s clear that 2024 was, without a doubt, the year Faustix found a whole new groove.

While he’s certainly been busy in the studio, Faustix has also played everywhere — from 13,000 person raves in the middle of Copenhagen to gigs on the Faroe Islands. Faustix, in other words, hasn’t taken his foot off the gas for even a second. And, with each gig and release, he is testament to how much people still love pumping, hard-edged techno.

Fave tune of 2024?

“Dash Berlin ‘Till The Sky Falls Down’, it’s an all-time classic and still gets me