Chocolate Puma Talk New Music, Producing During The Pandemic, Musical Style, And More!

Not only are Chocolate Puma coined for being pioneers in the dance/house scene, the Dutch duo are constantly innovating. ‘Rebels On The Run’ is a thrilling amalgamation of pop culture’s finest offerings, from referencing iconic runaways Bonnie and Clyde to nodding to one of Hip Hop’s legendary groups, OutKast. Such intelligent artistic vision, paired with a powerhouse vocal performance from UK Songwriter and Vocalist Grace Tither, is one not to be missed. We had the pleasure of speaking with Chocolate Puma to celebrate their latest release.

Let’s start with ‘Rebels On The Run’. How happy are you both with the finished product and its home on Spinnin’ Records?
“We are very happy with the finished product, and that’s good because as always we’ve put a lot of effort in it to get it right. We had the horns replayed by some very good horn players and we think that Grace Tither did an amazing job on the vocals. And we are happy that it is on Spinnin’ Records because we think they can do a better job than we could do ourselves on this record.”

‘Rebels On The Run’ continues a hot streak of releases for you guys on Spinnin’ Records. How important is it for you guys to have a home at Spinnin’ Records that believes in your vision and sound as artists?
“It is very important for us to have a record label like that, as we are always going in different directions with our music. In the past we sometimes had a record label that did’t want to release for example Give It Up under our moniker The Good Men. Luckily we pushed them to get it on the b-side (we released on vinyl at that time) and it became a huge hit. But having saying that, we are also very happy with our own brand new record label ’Tonco Tone’ where we can be even more creative and give a home to some other producers that we love”

With over 27 years of experience within the dance music scene, you guys keep reinventing yourselves with fresh productions. Where do you guys get your inspiration and ideas for when it comes to keeping things new and modern? 
“We always listen to all kinds of music and especially to new young producers. We are always very curious, we want to learn and we’re easily bored. And above all we absolutely love to make new music.”

With releases such as ‘Scrub The Ground’, ‘Space Sheep’, ‘Lullaby’, and others, a driving and powerful bottom end is present in each, do you guys cater your productions towards a packed dance floor or more towards a personal listening experience?
“We always make music for packed dance floors, but at the same time keeping in mind the personal listening experience as well. And when we master a track we might make some little adjustments to make it sound better on Spotify or radio. Sometimes we start a track with the more personal experience feel and turn it into a dance floor track later. But ultimately it starts with making tracks for the clubs and festivals.”

Now with dance floors closed due to COVID-19, has your outlook on future styles and releases changed now that you may not be able to road-test your IDs before they’ve been fully completed?
“Yes that’s why we released ‘Rebels On The Run’ and ‘Me up’ as those tracks are a healthy blend of the dance floor and personal experience sound.”

Appearing alongside younger talents such as Oliver Heldens, Mike Cervello, Carta, among others, do you enjoy working with the next generation and passing on your knowledge towards them?
“It’s so good to work with these younger talents because they have a different approach to making music and keep us young and focused. And we can learn from them because they started working in a different era with different gear and different methods. And yes they probably can learn a few thing from us as well :))”

You guys also release tons of original solo tracks – what do you enjoy the most about working on music with just the two of you?
“We know each other for such a long time, so we know each others strong and weak points and we can read each others body language very well.  Guess it’s a slightly more intimate process?”

With the cancellation of all shows across the world, how have you found it is to be in/near your studio for most of the day working on or finishing new music?
“We’re always in the studio if we’re not touring, so that’s a lot already. Now with the pandemic going and nobody touring we spend most of our time with our family and loved ones. “

With this break in performances, what have you enjoyed most about taking time off from touring and what do you miss most about the lack of shows?
“Well the time with family and friends we enjoyed very much, but of course we miss the crowds, loud music, meeting colleagues, we miss the happiness and festivals and greenroom parties and hangovers.”

 Ending the interview, would you like to share some exclusive news with us? 😉
“We just mastered our new record for Tonco Tone, a track with longtime collaborator Colonel Red.”