Gaston Steenkist of Chocolate Puma will no longer tour

Gaston Steenkist, one-half of the duo Chocolate Puma has announced that he will stop touring. The unexpected announcement came to fans by way of a touching message posted by Gaston on the duo’s social media.

The story of Chocolate Puma, or rather René ter Horst and Gaston Steenkist goes back 30 years when they rocked the industry with their musical creativity in the early 90s. As a duo, the producers from Haarlem, North-Holland, have used quite a few different aliases over these past three decades but, without a doubt, their most recognizable stage names are Zki & Dobre. Under the name The Good Men, they released one of their most loved hits ‘Give It Up‘ in 1993. However, giving up is not part of Chocolate Puma’s vocabulary, but change is the watchword now, as for Gaston a new chapter in this 30-year history begins to be written.

 

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The pandemic imprinted quite profound changes in the industry. The lockdowns scarred all the players, especially the DJs used to the frenetic pace of touring. Like his peers, Gaston Steenkist found himself locked at home, in a routine that was completely antagonistic to his day-to-day artistic life. This stop, this change, made him look at his life differently and encouraged him to embrace changes in his future. Touring will no longer be part of Gaston and you will no longer see the two halves of Chocolate Puma on stage together. In a strong desire to devote himself wholeheartedly to music production, Gaston will continue and even strengthen his contribution to the duo, becoming exclusively a studio animal. But there is no reason for fans to be sad, as René will continue to ensure Chocolate Puma’s presence on stage.

In Gaston’s message, which is worth reading in full, you can understand the weight of such a decision, but one that is taken for the good of all, especially Chocolate Puma:

 “Although I undoubtedly will miss seeing your faces, feeding off of your energy and experiencing our music on dance floors, I’m also very much looking forward to spend more time being creative in the studio. Having the time to dive deeper, to be the total producer nerd, to explore new paths. To take Chocolate Puma to the next level.”

Most importantly, the electronic duo is not going anywhere, they will split their efforts, one more in the studio and the other on tour, so that they both continue to give their fans the best they do: quality music.

Image credit: Chocolate Puma (via Facebook)