Chef’Special exists fifteen years this year and the Haarlem band willcelebrate that in April 2023 with a concert in the Ziggo Dome. Singer JoshuaNolet thinks he can continue for at least another thirty years, he says inconversation with NU.nl.
By Michiel Vos
“Our management pointed out that we have been around for fifteen years and Iwas quite shocked. It sounds like we are getting old and we are actuallygetting old,” laughs 34-year-old Nolet. “But the more I think about it, themore special I find it. We’ve been through so much together and it’s nice toreflect on that.”
“The five of us have become colleagues and family of each other. We spent alot of time together. In small houses where we worked on new music and in tourbuses where we traveled city and country. You just have to survive together .”
That has been the case for fifteen years now. Chef’Special plans to delve deepinto the archives for the anniversary concert. And that while she last yearwith Afraid Of The Dark the biggest hit of their career yet.
“We also want to play some songs from before we released our first album,”explains Nolet. “We all have demos of half-finished songs from the time wewent to all the surf camps to jam. We’re diving into that now to see ifthere’s anything cool we can play live.”
A new album for the concert is not in it, but he does not rule out some newsongs. The band will spend a lot of time in the studio in the coming period.
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‘Sometimes I feel like that nineteen-year-old kid again’
Chef’Special was in 2017 for the first time with its own concert in the ZiggoDome. That performance is certainly in the top ten of the band’s most specialperformances for Nolet. “At such a big show, it is a challenge to reach andget everyone on board, also in the back and on the second ring. You also wantto make it intimate at times so that everyone feels involved. That worked thenand there I was happy with it. I want that feeling again.”
The Ziggo Dome can accommodate about 17,000 people. But the singer is notafraid of nerves. “I will definitely have them, but I welcome them at such amoment. That means it is important to me. Suppose I go on stage almostuninterested, then it will be a less good show anyway.”
Chef’Special’s anniversary party started a few weeks ago with the release of_You And I_. The song is about all the people who had an impact on you, butwho are now no longer in your life. “We wanted to celebrate what those peoplehave contributed to your life, even if they are no longer with you. Forexample, in fifteen years the necessary people have come and gone. We cherishwhat we have shared with them.”
For Nolet, it feels like the first fifteen years of Chef’Special have flownby. He sees plenty of future in the band. “We still challenge each other,surprise ourselves and inspire each other. Sometimes I just feel like that19-year-old kid again. Like we’ve only just started.”