Will we have Joy Again?
A lookback at the band that won our hearts for a decade.
The year is 2017 and we are getting ready in the morning for our hectic week ahead, but of course before we embark on this journey we play some music from Joy Again on our good ole iPhone 7 from their newly released self titled EP. Now flash forward to 2024 and Joy Again has been with us for a decade since their debut in 2014 to their recent announcement in March 8th 2024 of ending the band just before a U.S. tour was scheduled for the Spring of 2024. The band had its origins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the help of Facebook they were able to connect with each other and the band grew to what is made up of Sachi DiSerafino, Arthur Shea, Blaise O’Brien, Zachary Tyndall, Kieran Ferris and Will Butera (Thank you Mark Zuckerberg you’re the MVP for contributing to this band). The band would expand beyond to tour across multiple locations across the United States and gain a great amount of support as the years followed. The debut album Song and Dance will still be released in June this year luckily and as a final piece of music for us to enjoy as we mourn over this loss of a band that won our hearts over the years. My first actual live performance of Joy Again was at El Cid during their 2019 tour and I will always look back on how much my expectations were met seeing them live for the first time. Little did I know that I this would be a night to remember even more so now that the band is no longer together.
Of course, this caused a great heartbreak among indie music fans who supported the band throughout the years and personally I felt as if I had lost a great part of my teen/adulthood. Almost like a breakup, you could say this feeling is like but alas this is one that will be remembered for a time. Ironically enough I had a friend who was admitted into the hospital for surgery while this happened as if that isn’t freaky enough, but I guess that’s life’s unexpected nuisances as I listen to a song by Joy Again to reminisce simpler times before the pandemic changed the course of our timeline. Nonetheless we will continue to enjoy the music they had given us for the future to come.