As a solo artist, Volk was first signed to Invada Records[2][3] and released his debut album Derwent Waters Saint in 2006.

In December 2012, Volk released a split 12" EP on Invada Records with the experimental Japanese band Boris.

[5] The album was produced by Volk, with additional production and orchestration by Emmy-nominated composer Ben Salisbury[6] along with Geoff Barrow.

[7] To support Happenings and Killings, Volk toured Germany in early 2017[8] with a new live band he formed with drummer Thys Bucher and bassist Jürg Schmidhauser.

Together the three musicians wrote new material for his third album Primitive Energetics, released in April 2020 under the name Joe Volk + Naiare.