Chocolate Puma is In The House!

Legendary Dutch dance duo Chocolate Puma craft a mix package spanning house, techno and everything in-between. Gaston Steenkist and René ter Horst (aka Chocolate Puma) are two of Holland’s most celebrated electronic producers. With a career spanning 20 years, 200-odd releases, two significant UK chart hits (‘Give It Up’ and ‘I Wanna Be U’) and countless remixes under their various guises, they are a duo whose influence on the European dance music scene cannot be overstated. Their latest project is an In The House mix for Defected, a compilation which represents the culmination of a life spent in and around house music. This includes tracks from Chez Damier, Ben Westbeech, Claude von Stroke, Kraak & Smaak, Gregor Salto and many more.

The result is a concerted effort to convey the feeling of a Chocolate Puma live set. “Back in the day a DJ could take you anywhere, from deep vocal stuff to bumping MK tracks, to the harder Hardfloor acid and we would just call it House” explains Gaston. “We still hold to that philosophy and our DJ sets are still all over the place, as we think that’s far more exciting than just to stick to one style.” It’s an outlook that is demonstrated across both discs of the mix. With various genres cobbled together it’s an approach that in unskilled hands could end up being an indistinct, schizophrenic mess; in this case it’s anything but.

With 2012 marking the 20th anniversary of the release of ‘Give It Up’ , Rene and Gaston continue to stand for quality in a music scene littered with mediocrity, setting ever-higher standards for their own productions and inspiring new generations of producers with every beat, bass thump and joyously raised hand. As this new compilation proves, Chocolate Puma are a benchmark for excellence, hard-work and talent; long may they continue to fly the flag.