Chocolate Puma

With ADE in full flow, the Dutch superstars refuse to take a Step Back 

Interview by Dan Prince


Zki and Dobre, Jark Prongo, The Good Men or just plain old Rene et Gaston; whatever you prefer to call the DJ and production duo most commonly hailed as Chocolate Puma, chances are you know them one way or another. Gaston Steenkist and René ter Horst are two of Holland’s most celebrated electronic producers and with a career spanning 20 years, 200-odd releases and countless remixes under their various guises are a duo whose influence on the global dance music scene cannot be underestimated. It’s this down to earth, genuine attitude that has steadily built Chocolate Puma both a loyal legion of fans over the world and unparalleled respect among their peers and after a decade of releases and compilations across respected imprints such as Strictly Rhythm, Defected, Spinnin, FFFR, Positiva and DimMak it was no surprise when their ‘Step Back’ collaboration with UK MC Kris Kriss surfaced on Laidback Luke’s Mixmash label in early 2014. Having already been certified Gold on their hope turf of Holland, ‘Step Back’ is an infectious urban tinged nu-house anthem which has been a staple of the club, festival and radio sets of a diverse range of DJs from Target, Shift K3y, Mistajam, Danny Howard, and Oliver Heldens and Martin Garrix, Don Diablo, Nicky Romero and Diplo. Now with a fresh set of remixes from Friction, Low Steppa and Loopers ‘Step Back’ looks set to help Chocolate Puma step up to the upper reaches of the UK chart once again…

 

Zki, Dobre welcome back to DMCWORLD – wow what a week you are in the middle of! Where are you right now?

“Hi Dan! We are with Tommie Sunshine in our studio finishing a bad ass track!”

Dudes – The Buzz Chart was all over ‘Step Back’ back in February giving it a massive No.1 slot. The new mixes are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. The Friction mix is ridiculous, love the Low Steppa mix. Please talk us through the remixes…

“Wow that’s difficult as you should ask Friction and Low Steppa about that! But we’ll give it a shot. We are a big fan of Low Steppa’s productions so thats why we asked him and he did a proper job on it and we know it was not an easy job. He brings in the Low Steppa bass feel and give the record a completely different feeling without stepping to much away from the original. We used to be big fans of drum & bass and even made some drum & bass records in the past. We really like the energy and actually a drum & bass record inspired us to make ‘Step Back’, so a remix from Friction was a logical step – also because he loved the record already. And this remix will be the reason that we are going to play drum & bass in our DJ sets again (probably one record, but were gonna do it). It’s what you said already Dan…A.M.A.Z.I.N.G…”

 

Check Friction’s remix here: https://soundcloud.com/djfriction/chocolate-puma-step-back-friction-remix/s-amVSe

 

Check out the video here: http://youtu.be/1Me4IUonY4Q

So, ADE is upon us once again. 5 big dates with you guys rocking the Dam! What party are you really looking forward to?

“Of course we are looking forward to all the parties. The Mixmash party because ‘Step Back’ was released on it and we are going to perform live with Kris Kiss (see photo below!). Kings Of ACE of course as they feel like family to us since ACE is our agency for The Netherlands. Fedde Le Grand’s party is gonna be big fun as we have a 1.5 hour set at a very nice location. Flow with our homie Franky Rizardo will be at a smaller venue, something we really like because we are closer to the audience and probably can go a little deeper. Sidney Samson and friends says it all, we’re gonna party with the audience and there will be a lot of friends there – and we have a 1.5 hr set again so that’s nice too!”

How much work do you guys usually get done at ADE…?

“Actually we let our management do most of the work at daytime ADE and we are in the studio with some guys from all over the world, as they are all in Amsterdam. And of course we have our gigs at night. So a lot of work is getting done…”

Have you prepared any special ADE bombs for the dancefloor?

“Yesss! We did some remix work and we’re gonna test them out and also some new solo tracks. But we’re not gonna tell you anything about it, come to one of the gigs.”

Think back to ADE 2013…what memory springs into your memory straight away?

“The party our agency ACE threw at The Sand was amazing in every detail – like artwork, stage, location, sound, everything!”

What are the big 3 records in your box this weekend?

Chocolate Puma & Firebeatz – I Cant Understand

Bart B More – Cowbell (Chocolate Puma Edit)

AC Slater – Fifty K

Another big release coming up in November, this time with Firebeatz…talk us through the sound of ‘I Can’t Understand’…

“It’s an old skool house sound with big pianos and hi-hats and stuff. The strange thing with this record is that we made more final mixes of it than we ever have ever done as we were not satisfied with the end mix in the beginning, but now it kicks ass! It’s an old skool house record made in 2014 and that you can hear!”

We interviewed Oliver Heldens last week, he was really excited about some new music you had created together. Tell us more!!!

“No we are not gonna tell you anymore Dan, you must wait until the record gets released! OK maybe a little bit then. It’s really cool to work with Oliver as he is very young and has some very fresh ideas on how to make music, a little bit like us when we started coupled however with 2014 equipment and sounds. He is also a really nice guy and we feel really connected to him, which is very important to us when we are in the studio with someone.”

How did the session go with Oliver, who was taking care of what part of the music?

“We all did our part and were not gonna tell you that as that must stay a little secret. Because of the internet nowadays you guys already know too much about us!!”

What was your tune of the summer?

“Next to a lot of other brilliant tracks Rubberband Lazer was working really well for us.”

And your favourite gig of the summer – EDC and Budapest looked fun!

“EDC was too much fun – we dont have words for that! But Budapest was also one of the best parties last summer, actually there are too many favourite parties we have played at – maybe you better ask next time for the worst party!”

You did a quick tour of the US a few weeks ago hitting San Fran, Chicago, Atlantic City and Albany. How has the American crowd developed over the last year or two? If at all…

“They have! And for us in a very good way, as they are really open to our house sound. We think for the first time in house music history the US is ahead of the European crowd as they still like EDM, but you can put a DJ like us directly after an EDM DJ and the crowd will adopt the sound immediately.”

A producer who has been dope this year…

“Oliver Heldens, Tchami, Chris Lorenzo…”

And finally, what is the next studio project on your agenda? 

“Tomorrow we hit the studio with singer songwriter Harrison from the UK…”

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For more information on Chocolate Puma, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/ChocolatePumaOfficial

http://twitter.com/ChocolatePuma

http://www.chocolatepuma.com

https://soundcloud.com/chocolate-puma

For more information on Kris Kiss, please visit:

https://www.facebook.com/kriskissofficial

https://twitter.com/KristianKiss

https://soundcloud.com/kriskissofficial