Joshua Nolet
Joshua Nolet
Joshua Nolet is the lead emcee fronting Dutch indie-rap group Chef'Special. [1]
Career
Joshua Nolet is the lead vocalist of Chef'Special alongside Guido Joseph, Wouter Heeren, Wouter Jerry Prudon, and Jan Derk. The group formed in Haarlem, Netherlaands and became known as the house band for popular Dutch Television program "De Wereld Draait Door" in 2011. Their signature sound blends hip-hop, rock, pop, funk and reggae.
The group was discovered by Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots and were signed by their label, Fueled By Ramen. They've been on tour with indie band Aer, and were the opening act for Twenty One Pilots on their Emotional Roadshow World Tour in the summer of 2016. Their song "In Your Arms" reached position 40 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and has achieved over 3.5 million views on YouTube as of April 2019.
Nolet has appeared on the late night Dutch talkshow "Pauw".
Music
Chef'Special has released the following studio albums:
One for the Mrs. (2011, Kaiser Records)
Passing Through (2014, Kaiser Records)
Amigo (2017, Kaiser Records)
And the following EPs:
Hungry (2009, Self-released)
Shot in the Dark (2015, Kaiser Records)
Chef'Special EP (2015, Fueled by Ramen)
Personal Life
Nolet was born in Lisbon, Portugal on April 12, 1988. He was inspired musically by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Fugees, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and so many other talented artists. Nolet's first encounter with live music was at 10 or 11 years old when he saw Muse playing in Versailles. Soon after forming Chef'Special, Nolet and pals bought a van, called it “The Misses,” painted Chef’Special on it, and started touring around the surf spots on the European West Coast.
In an interview with Jfk.men Nolet reveals that he went to Lesbos to do volunteer work. In that same interview he also revealed that he finds Donald Trump's brand of narcissism dangerous and that he doesn't sleep with groupies because there is too much of a power dynamic.
On World Mental Health Day, October 11, 2018, Nolet posted on Instagram that he often suffered from depression. The entire post said:
I woke up afraid today.
Fearfull for what may or may not be waiting around the corner.
It’s that time of year again.
I tell myself past struggle is no guarantee for future results and that it can be different this time.
The words offer little comfort cause the past five winters haven’t exactly been my best seasons.
And this is putting it mildly.
My mind goes dark that time of year.
Dark to a point where I fail to see what’s obvious to me right now; how blessed I actually am, how much love I get to receive from the people in my life, both those close to me and those who enjoy our music, how writing is something beautiful and liberating instead of it being some twisted tool to judge yourself over, how I am worthy of love.
My own love.
When you simply can’t see all those things anymore, it’s easy for the mind to give a stage and a big microphone to thoughts like: “Well why am I here anyway?
Might as well check out right?”.
This may sound extreme if you’ve never experienced anything close to this, but those who have might recognize there is a certain (dangerous) comfort in those thoughts.
In that moment they seem to be the sole supplier of a way out.
A way out of feeling this way.
Obviously these thoughts are poisonous and thankfully they’ve always remained thoughts in my case.
I have people to thank for that.
My family, my friends, the band, the therapist I go to, meditation (the @headspace ap to me was a great introduction into learning how to distance myself from thoughts like that), spring and ofcourse the music.
All the above invited me to broaden my scope again, step out of the darkness and reclaim my curiosity towards life.
Depression is a bitch.
It tempts you to shut off and narrow your scope till all you see is fear.
And fear breeds fear.
To all those struggling with it; I hope you can find yourself able to talk about it.
It is okay, this is not your fault but you CAN allow yourself the help you need to fix or live with it.
I’m sharing this cause it’s World Mental Health day and this topic deserves more light, for nothing healthy grows in the dark.