Joywave’s indie-rock tunes filled the pre-rain, afternoon slot at Voodoo Music and Arts Experience, providing a scene for festival-goers to relax before seeing the Oct. 31 evening acts.
Guitarist Joseph Morinelli, drummer Paul Brenner, bassist Sean Donnelly, keyboardist Benjamin Bailey and vocalist Daniel Armbruster met in high school while they grew up in Rochester, New York.
The band said it’s goals are to see themselves become bigger than Kodak. The group explained that Rochester is known for being the birthplace for Kodak.
“So when people say Rochester, New York, they don’t say Kodak. They say Joywave,” the band said.
Joywave is proud to call Rochester its home, the group said. That in itself influenced the band’s music.
This is Joywave’s second time in New Orleans after it played at The Republic with St. Lucia last year. The band is not touring currently, but it made an exception for Voodoo.
Last night, the band members checked out Bourbon Street and people-watched, they said.
Frontman Armbruster lost his voice from the band’s performance, but the other members of the band spoke for him.
Armbruster is responsible for writing most of Joywave’s music, it said. The band figures out what melodies it wants to play with Armbruster’s lyrics in the studio.
The band currently isn’t working on any new material.
Joywave just finished its first headlining tour, and its first album “How Do You Feel Now?” was released earlier this year. The album featured its breakout hits “Tongues,” “Somebody New” and “Now.”

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Ari Ross

Joywave's Daniel Armbruster sings during the Voodoo music and arts experience on Oct. 31, 2015, in New Orleans City Park.