joel is the poster child for happy accidents. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, he was then adopted and raised in a village of 8 people in the countryside of Vimmerby, southern Sweden.

The plan was to start playing the guitar in second grade but when the class was full, he instead picked up and played the classical flute for 13 years. His flute teacher was the one who encouraged him to sing in front of an audience for the first time at age 12 igniting a curiosity in him for performing.

Before enrolling at university to study political science, he decided on a whim to take a gap year. This led him to study jazz in Stockholm and started writing music with a friend at school. One thing led to another, and he got to record a song for Benny Anderson from ABBA’s studio. And then, one week before the school year ended, Benny offered him a deal at his publishing.

His most recent happy accident is the EP “World’s Worst Cowboy” – a love letter to his countryside upbringing where he establishes himself as one of Scandinavia’s strongest lyricists and concept developers. The title track came about after he suffered from deep vein thrombosis, a consequence of a few months of partying harder than usual. “It was like my body was telling me that it’s not made to endure anything remotely cool”. He’s the boy from the woods who doesn’t know how to ride a horse, gets a hangover from two glasses of wine, and catches feelings WAY too easily- he’s literally the World’s Worst Cowboy.