Maas' first fascination with music was sparked by listening to the radio when he was young. At the age of 9 he bought his first record and went on to buy his first set of turntables at 17. His very first set was in 1982, when he played at a party in his friend's home. The beginning of his career consisted mostly of gigs around Germany playing "Top 40"-records, but occasionally sneaking in a techno record. It was to be another 6 years from his first set that he performed his first official all-techno set. In 1992 Maas was introduced to the early German rave scene after being booked for a rave at Easter. His fascination with the rave culture led him to play at many different rave-events of many sizes and scales both at home and abroad. It was in this way that Maas earned a name in the electronic underground scene.

Maas first began producing records in the '80s, but his first record The final XS was not released until 1995. The final XC did not sell well, and Maas himself even called it Cheesy, which is a term used in electronic music to describe something too simple and predictable. His second record release was with another producer, Gary D, with Die Herdplatte, which was a bigger success than his first album. Gary D also gained Maas a residency at Hamburg's famous club, The Tunnel, between 1994 and 1996.

Through British contacts Maas played at the Bristol-based progressive house club Lakota. Maas also began to release records through record-labels such as Hope Recordings, both under his own name and the alias Orinoko. Maas has also recorded under many aliases such as Mad Dogs and many others together with his manager and friend Leon Alexander. In 2000 Timo Maas began a residency alongside Deep Dish at the New York club Twilo.