Peter-Paul Pigmans (31 January 1961 – 27 August 2003) was a Dutch
gabber music producer, best known for his production under the pseudonym 3 Steps Ahead.
Born in
Berkel en Rodenrijs and based out of
Rotterdam, Pigmans' music is widely considered one of the most innovative specimens of the gabber genre; while many gabber producers favor raw force and little virtuosity when creating a song, Pigmans' music always had a strong technical side, and his songs often featured atmospherical elements, an unusual thing in the genre at the time. He was also known for his extremely wild live shows.
His first full-length album ''Most Wanted & Mad'' (1997) reached #35 on the Dutch album top 100.
Pigmans was diagnosed with
brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
in 1999. On 18 July 2003 in
Zaandam at the
Hemkade stadium, fellow Dutch producers organized a fundraising event for him called "3 Steps Ahead 4 Life" where the cream of the Dutch gabber scene performed (for free - all income was spent on his treatment in hope of curing him) and paid respect to him. A couple of weeks later, he died. Two months later the annual
Thunderdome started with a one-minute silence in his memory.
He's been elected into the
Thunderdome Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
.
Discography
Albums
* ''Most Wanted & Mad'' (1997)
* ''Junkie'' (2000)
EPs
* ''Step 1'' (1994)
* ''Step 2'' (1994)
* ''Step 3'' (1994)
* ''Drop It'' (1996)
* ''Hakkûh'' (1996)
* ''Gangster'' (1996)
* ''It's Delicious'' (1997)
* ''Paint It Black'' (1998)
Singles
* ''In the Name of Love'' (2010)
Film soundtracks
Two of his songs were used in the soundtrack for ''
Brüno'' (2009): "Thunderdome Till We Die" and "Stravinsky's Bass".
Brüno (2009) soundtrack listing
at the Internet Movie Database
References
External links
Official site and obituary
3 Steps Ahead
at Discogs
3 Steps Ahead 4 Life
- Announcement of the fundraising party with artist roster
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:3 Steps Ahead
1961 births
2003 deaths
Dutch musicians
Hardcore techno musicians
Musicians from Tilburg
Deaths from brain cancer in the Netherlands