Joywave (L to R: Joseph Morinelli, Daniel Armbruster and Paul Brenner). Courtesy Eyvn Morgan.

It took some time, but Joywave vocalist Daniel Armbruster says he’s looking forward to the return of a musical “normalcy.”

“I’m excited … now,” Armbruster said. “I’m ready to get back out there and do it live for real.”

Armbruster said his favorite part of music and being in a band is the creative process and the evolution of writing in the studio, something for which he had ample time at home over the past 15 months. The band is set to make its first appearance at BottleRock Napa Valley over Labor Day weekend.

Joywave is touring in support of its latest four-track EP, Every Window is a Mirror. While the pandemic upended the recording process for many bands, Armbruster said Joywave was able to operate as it normally would, working from its home studio. He said it reminded him of writing the band’s first record.

“No one cared about us, and we were an unsigned band, and I was writing songs in my parent’s basement alone,” Armbruster said. “Except now it’s my basement, which is a serious upgrade.”

Drummer Paul Brenner worked in Armbruster’s home studio while guitarist Joseph Morinelli contributed remotely. (Keyboardist Benjamin Bailey was also involved but is in the process of leaving the band now to work on a solo project).

“I actually kind of like working with limitations and having different ones on each record,” Armbruster said. “I’m a believer in ‘when all things are possible, then nothing is possible.’ The constraints end up informing the sound of the record.”

Joywave had put a year and a half of work into its last record, Possession, released in mid-March 2020, just weeks before shutdowns hit.

“It was pretty upsetting to see the record cycle end on Day One and know there would be no shows or ‘no anything’ around the record,” he said.

Despite the frustration of not being able to give the record its due, Armbruster understands the circumstances; 2020 was a crazy year.

“Music was about the last thing anyone cared about. What do you think the song of summer in 2020 was? I don’t even remember music being a part of it,” he said.

Armbruster worked on a quarantine EP called Best Frenz early on in the pandemic.  It consisted of reactions to the news, which he said he wanted to get out of his system before taking on anything new with Joywave.

“I’m sure we’ll be hearing coronavirus rhymed with whatever rhymes with coronavirus for the next three years, so I didn’t want to do that,” he said, wryly.

While the pandemic didn’t define the band’s new songs, it did indirectly influence the Rochester, N.Y. band’s songwriting. Being forced to take a break was the only thing that slowed Armbruster down after seven years of constant writing and touring.

“Without the pandemic, I don’t think I would have slowed down and taken a look around,” he said.

He turned to music to explore what he thought of what was happening all around him. That has always been a comfort, and it always made sense.

An odd quirk of not touring around the last Joywave album meant the band has yet to play any of the songs from it live. Figuring out how to get all the new songs into a set alongside requisite older material is presenting a challenge. After all, the band’s catalog has doubled since the last time Joywave played in front of fans.

“I saw Paul McCartney about 10 years ago, and he played for three hours, and I was so upset!” Armbruster said, laughing. “I get you were in the Beatles, that’s pretty cool, but three hours is a long time to be here right now and I don’t want to put people through that.”

Joywave has already recorded, mixed and mastered its next record, Cleanse, which includes the four songs from the current EP. The band plans to release it in early 2022. Armbruster and co. have often tried unusual tactics when releasing singles, and they did it again on “Every Window Is A Mirror.” The lyric video came with Russian subtitles.

“Did we release it only in Russian? I’m pretty sure we only released it in Russian,” he said, laughing, “I’m pretty sure we meant to do it in other languages and just forgot. … I’m still hoping maybe the Russian troll farm will market our next record for us, like, really make it go viral.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.