Daniel Armbruster might be one of the only indie rock frontmen who name-checks The Great Recession, Carl Sagan, Murder Hornets, and Staples in the same breath—and somehow makes it all feel like a coherent thesis statement. As the voice of Joywave, he’s spent the last decade turning existential anxiety and macro-level chaos into smart, catchy synth-rock. On the band’s 2020 album Possession, Armbruster zooms out even further, turning everyday mundanity and breaking-news panic into something bigger, stranger, and—somehow—danceable.
“The best art to me is like documentaries,” he tells me. No surprise then, that Joywave albums are structured like personal histories, each one documenting a different phase of reckoning: post-college disillusionment, post-success burnout, and now, the search for balance amid a hyperconnected world. “Possession is the first time where I had a moment to really catch my breath,” he says. “And to take on things that are bigger than me.”
Those “things” include a culture defined by fear cycles, a news landscape shaped by perpetual outrage, and a generation trying to claw back a sense of control. “I’ve been fighting for control of my life for five years,” he says. “And before that, I fought for it as long as it took to get out of my job at Staples.” That frustration becomes the beating heart of Possession—equal parts tension release and digital-age dispatch, narrated by a history major with a synth rig.
Lead single “Like a Kennedy” makes its point quietly at first, with gentle piano and soft vocals before building to a shredding, over-the-top guitar solo—a moment Armbruster gleefully describes as “the most American thing possible.” The track tackles the desensitization of gun violence in the U.S. with surreal detachment. “It’s insane to think the life of the leader of the free world—JFK—was worth $20 because of our gun laws,” he says. “And nothing has changed.”
The music video drives the point home further, with an eerie loop of assassination imagery repeating on a closed circuit while everyone around shrugs it off. “There’s death, and a celebratory guitar solo. Because this is America,” Armbruster says.
Thematically, the record moves from micro to macro, zooming out from daily stressors to a wide-angle cosmic perspective. Between tracks, you’ll hear samples from NASA’s Golden Record—assembled by Carl Sagan and launched into space aboard the Voyager probes. “It’s this idea of being 15 billion miles away, looking back at Earth and asking, ‘Which one is it?’” he explains. That distance isn’t apathy—it’s about achieving perspective. “I’m not encouraging people to check out,” he clarifies. “But you need a healthy diet of outrage. Don’t take the bait every time.”
The pandemic, of course, added new layers to those themes. When lockdowns hit, Joywave had just returned from touring Europe. Armbruster saw what was coming. “I said, ‘Guys, we’re about to have a year off,’ and they didn’t believe me,” he says. But that downtime became unexpectedly fruitful—an opportunity for reflection, experimentation, and even a new side project with Sir Sly’s Jason Suwito. “I’m trying to use this bonus time as bonus time,” he says. “To do things I wouldn’t otherwise do and learn more about myself.”
That belief in the ripple effects of art—the way small ideas can spark large outcomes—runs deep. He tells me a surreal story: years ago, his vocal on the Big Data song “Dangerous” ended up inspiring Fortnite. “The creator of the game said he wasn’t sure how to put it together. But after hearing ‘Dangerous,’ he knew exactly what to do—he wanted to make the game look like the song sounded.” Dark. Cartoony. Playful. Violent. And it worked. “To think I had any impact on that,” Armbruster says, still stunned, “is just wild.”
That’s the thing about Joywave. Underneath the sarcasm and surrealism is a belief in the power of small ideas: a record made in a Rochester basement, a riff beamed into orbit, a lyric about a twin bed that becomes an anthem. It’s history as personal narrative, anxiety reframed as energy, and art that asks you to look up—not away.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
