Their lineup consists of Daniel Armbruster (vocals), Joseph Morinelli (guitar), and Paul Brenner (drums).

[6] In 2012, the band was regularly traveling to perform in New York City, where Armbruster met and collaborated with producer Alan Wilkis on his new project Big Data.

[13][14] The band then signed a contract with the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records to form their own imprint, Cultco,[15] and obtained unique permission to use samples from Disney's movie catalog in their music.

[20] The band toured in support of the album for seven months from April to October,[4] including segments opening shows for The Kooks in North America[21] and for Brandon Flowers of The Killers in the United Kingdom,[22] where they also played Leeds Festival.

[23] In 2016, Joywave released Swish, a novelty record which only featured nine copies of the song "Destruction" and a B-side track titled "Life in a Bubble I Blew".

[2] Now working with a larger budget, they relocated their home studio in Rochester to a barn in Bloomfield, New York and recorded the album Content over the course of four months.

[45] Bassist Kevin Mahoney joined as a touring musician, as well as keyboardists Connor Ehman and Jason Milton.

[47] In December of 2022, they announced another tour of the United States called Express Wash, which took place in March and April 2023.

[51][52] The band contributed 3 songs to the soundtrack of the 2023 video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, credited as "Yubnib Zekk and the Main Characters".

[55] In May 2024, the band announced the Permanent Pleasure World Tour, which began on September 11, 2024, in Toronto, Canada, and concluded on November 14, 2024, in Utrecht, Netherlands.

[56] On January 27, 2025, the band announced their Here to Perform... tour, which will begin on April 16, 2025, in New Haven, Connecticut, running through May, with Little Image as their supporting act.

[3] Critics have noted influences from pop and synth rock acts of previous decades, including Tears for Fears and LCD Soundsystem.

[58] According to Donnelly, the Rochester music scene largely consisted of metal bands at the time of Joywave's formation, which influenced their sound to be more aggressive and edgy on How Do You Feel Now?.

Press badges for their 2015 world tour included a copy of the logo for Kodak, where parents of all five band members had worked.

[4] Later that year, the band jokingly attempted to crowdfund a purchase of the abandoned local Medley Center Mall.