Chef'Special

Every once in a while a band comes along who instantly connects with people in a way that you can't fake—and that is certainly true of Chef’Special. Since forming in their hometown of the Netherlands in 2008, the band have released two albums, toured extensively and built a rabid fan across Europe based who instantly gravitated to the band's unique blend of hip-hop, rock and reggae. Now the band are about to begin their Stateside assault with the Chef'Special EP which will showcase to American audiences what all the fuss has been about with this highly buzzed-about five-piece.

"The first time we ever jammed we realized in two hours that there was this instant vibe and connection, but just as important was the fact that we felt like we all had serious ambitions that we recognized in each other," vocalist Joshua Nolet says. Correspondingly soon afterward the band—which also features guitarist Guido Joseph, bassist Jan Derks, keyboardist Wouter Heeren and drummer Wouter Prudon—bought a van and headed down the west coast for a month-long trip that saw them getting to know each other, performing in exchange for beer and a place to sleep in order to solidify the bond between the band members. "We only had one or two songs and just thought 'hey, we can create something out of nothing and just have fun in the process' and that's really where Chef’Special came into its own," Nolet adds.

Additionally if you're familiar with Chef'Special you know that their sound has developed a lot since their inception—and although the band started out being influenced by acts like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine, they found that the more tie they spent on the road, the more their sound developed. "We have a ton of different musical influences but at the end of the day it's all pop-oriented," Joseph explains. The band are also able to seamlessly integrate world music-inspired rhythms and instrumentation into their compositions, which helps keep their music sounding universally appealing to listeners all over the world.

That's especially true when it comes to the Chef'Special's breakout single "In Your Arms" from their 2014 full-length Passing Through, which has already gone triple- platinum with over 8.5 million plays on Spotify and 2.5 million views on YouTube. "I think that song has a really universal message to it," front man replies when asked why he thinks a song about his father passing away has resonated with so many people. "Guido came up with the chorus the day before we started recording the album in New York and I woke up in the middle of the night with that hook in my head and the rest of it just came out of me and felt like a release in a powerful way," he continues, adding that although the song is about a sense of loss there's also a hopeful aspect at its core.

It may only be four songs but the Chef'Special EP showcases the different sides of the band's sound from the gently fingerpicked ballad "On Shoulders" to the breezy dance vibe of "Eden." Then there's "Peculiar," a song that was inspired by a massively influential trip the group took to Kenya in 2014. "We traveled around for two weeks and it was a cool experience both personally and musically," Joseph explains. "That song has an African-sounding guitar riff and the groove isn't based on traditional pop writing; I think seeing what music can do and watching people play it from their hearts was really important for us to see because it opened up the perspective of what was possible for us to achieve." Another huge part of Chef'Special's success is their legendary live performances in which the audience is just as vital to the experience as the band themselves. "If you listen to our album we go from songs like 'In Your Arms' to hip-hop, so it's really important for us to build the performances up to that high-energy place and then back to the more intimate material while keeping everyone in the flow," says Nolet "We essentially just want to expel a lot of positive energy and get it back from whoever we're playing for, so in that sense the live show is the most important thing to us. That's the only way that you can see how you're connecting with people in a totally raw and tangible way."

The band will be releasing their full-length album in early 2016, which is a testament not only to their work ethic but proves that if you follow your dreams, it's true that anything is possible. "We had to do a ton of live shows in order to get people on our side and make it impossible for the music industry to ignore us any longer," Nolet beams. "We've gotten to this point on our own and we're so excited for Fueled By Ramen and Atlantic Records to help us take the next step," he summarizes. "The first day we met each other as naive kids we said we were going to take over the world—and we never stopped believing in ourselves. We can't wait to see what happens next."

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