The Joy Thieves’ Apocalypse Pending Out June 5 on Armalyte Industries
Transmission 345: Interview with The Joy Thieves
The Joy Thieves is a Chicago-based collective operating as a fluid production entity rather than a fixed band. Built around musicians and producers Dan Milligan and James Scott, the project has accumulated over 80 contributors since its formation, drawing from the ranks of Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, Pigface, RevCo, PIG, David Bowie, Machines of Loving Grace, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Foetus, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Nitzer Ebb, and Die Krupps, among others.
Artist: The Joy Thieves
Release Date: 2026-06-05
Genres: Electronica, Experimental Music, Industrial Music
Label: Armalyte Industries
Description: Dan Milligan of The Joy Thieves on Apocalypse Pending, out June 5 via Armalyte Industries, featuring Chris Connelly and 80+ contributors.
The group’s third album, Apocalypse Pending,is due June 5th via Armalyte Industries, with all vocals handled by Chris Connelly (Fini Tribe (read our interview with Chris Connelly on Fini Tribe), Revolting Cocks, Ministry, Pigface). The record is built around late eighties and early nineties New York hip hop production techniques, grafted onto the industrial rock framework the collective has worked within since its inception. The lead single, The Wrong End of Your Rifle, addresses corporate impunity, state violence, and digital desensitization.
Featured image: Derick Smith
What was I listening to before I was making music? Before this current batch of music?
You know, I’ve been a musician for my entire life. I actually started playing drums when I was five years old, so there weren’t many years where I wasn’t listening to music.
Before I was in bands, when I was a teenager in high school, it was all stuff like Metallica and Queensrÿche. My very first band was actually a progressive rock band, so it was all that kind of math rock and metal that I was listening to before I started playing in bands myself.
How did you meet your collaborators and how did you decide to start this fluid collective?
There are many of us, over 80 contributors now for The Joy Thieves, so every single one of those stories is different.
There are a few main players. My main production partner is James Scott. He owns a studio in the next town over from me, and I’ve actually known him ever since we were in high school. We didn’t know each other well back then, but I knew he was a musician and owned a studio. Really about maybe 10 or 15 years ago, we started becoming closer and working together more. He’s a huge part of everything that The Joy Thieves do now. I couldn’t do it without him.
Another main contributor would be Chris Connelly, who did all the vocals for this upcoming album. I met him through Martin Atkins (read our interview with Martin Atkins). I knew Martin through my wife; she had worked with him a bunch of years ago. I reached out to him when I was starting to put together The Joy Thieves, and at that point it was just going to be a one-person project. While I sing backups, I don’t write vocal lines and I needed someone to sing. So I reached out to Martin to see if he might know of somebody who might be a good fit, and he suggested Chris Connelly, which at the time seemed completely crazy to me, because I’m a huge fan of Chris’s. I’ve known his work from way back, and it just seemed like he was above my level. It seemed like a long shot. But after a couple of days I decided to reach out and just see. I sent him a few songs and really within just a couple of days he liked the music, did all the vocals, and returned them to me. I was stunned. That was almost eight or nine years ago, and we’ve been working together on many different things since then.
A Chicago production collective of 80+ musicians channels late eighties New York hip hop through an industrial filter, with Chris Connelly delivering lyrics that treat the current political moment as both subject and raw material.
You described the sound as “made by all of us and yet none of us.” How do you actually manage the creative process across such a large, geographically dispersed group?
It’s not a small feat. A lot of the bulk work happened during COVID, when everyone started working remotely, and it was good to lay that groundwork, having people send tracks, being able to send things back, working with people all over the globe. Now a lot of musicians have their own home studios, which just wasn’t the case way back when. So if you have a home studio and you like the music we’re doing and you have a few extra minutes, it’s something a lot of people can contribute to without too much work. I’m not limited to Chicago or even the United States. I’ve worked with many people from all around the world.
A lot of that also has to do with COVID; so many people were very bored, nobody could play gigs, everyone was looking for a creative outlet. I reached out to quite a few people at that time and they were happy to join the work for The Joy Thieves.
How do you write lyrics when the vocal contributor hasn’t been decided yet?
I don’t write the lyrics at all; I leave that always up to the vocalist. I have a heavy hand in the music, but when it comes to lyrics, across all our stuff and all the singers who have performed with us over the years, I leave that completely up to them. You’d have to ask them.
“When I feel that sense of being scared a little bit, it’s a good thing when it comes to creating music. It means I’m excited, it means I’m doing something I’ve not done before.”
—Dan Milligan
In general, who has the final say, or is every track a different story?
When it comes to the final mixes and final presentation of the music, that would be me. There just has to be a point person who makes the decisions. My production partner James also has a huge hand in that, but when it all comes down to it, I’m at the fulcrum. I listen to everyone’s ideas, but someone’s got to make the final choice; that’s definitely me.
How much does being a Chicago band matter to the sound?
Chicago is a great music town, and especially when it comes to industrial and industrial rock, there’s a rich history here, also dance music, house music. I hear a lot of those things seeping into what we do. There is a mix of guitars and technological elements that we lean into, and I think a lot of Chicago bands have done that very well. A lot of people have actually said to me that despite having members from all over, it sounds like a Chicago thing. I think that really has to do with my living here and creating music here for so many years. It’s hard to explain exactly why, but it’s a part of the sound.
Why did you decide to build Apocalypse Pending around major hip hop breakbeats?
With every new release there’s a different idea behind it. After the last release I wasn’t sure where we were going to go, so I just started listening to music and seeing what was inspiring me. At that point I was listening to a ton of late eighties and early nineties hip hop, specifically New York hip hop from that era. That sound was becoming super intriguing to me and I started thinking about how I could implement some of those production techniques into what we do. It seemed overwhelming at first; it’s just not how I’ve operated in the past, and so it was a little scary. But for me, when I feel that sense of being a little scared, it’s a good thing when it comes to creating music. It means I’m excited, it means I’m doing something I’ve not done before. So I decided to really lean into that, start studying some of those techniques, and see what they sounded like combined with the existing sound of The Joy Thieves. It was really, really fun. I’m not a young person, and when I’m making music it is about fun; all I want to do is enjoy the experience. If people like it, that’s great. But it was exactly what was inspiring me at the moment.
“It becomes much easier to create angrier music when you are so upset with things going on around you.”
—Dan Milligan
With so many different contributors, is there a common thread that runs through every track on the album?
The common thread on this one is everything passing through me, and also James, and Chris. We’ve had records in the past where we had a different singer on every song, and I liked those, but the records I liked most were ones with a more common thread. When Chris said he was interested in doing vocals for the entire album, enough said. Chris is amazing, and lyrically there’s definitely a common thread running through it. So I would say he, James, and myself are the common thread; everybody else kind of revolves. I’ve taken bits and pieces from a lot of other people, but they always go through that prism that is The Joy Thieves. It’s not a small task to get a very cohesive sound when you have so many people contributing, but I think we’ve done that on this album.
What books, films, or visual art influenced this album, if any?
For the visuals we leaned into that late 80s, early 90s New York vibe. That comes out in the artwork; a buddy of mine had taken some fantastic pictures of things on the street, and that’s the kind of vibe we wanted. The trick was that when you see that kind of art, it tends to look dated; it’s a very specific style from a very specific era. Trying to update it was the challenge. I think we’ve done it and I’m very happy with where we wound up.
Did the current political climate influence the album?
Absolutely. Specifically when it comes to the lyrics, Chris had a lot to say about the current climate here in America and around the world. It becomes much easier to create angrier music like we’ve done with this album when you are so upset with things going on around you. The chaos of it all inspired us, especially while we were writing some of the musical tracks; it was complete chaos going into Chicago at the time. Drawing on that energy made it very fun, and it felt like the right thing to do to make tracks that also felt like chaos.
“It was complete chaos going into Chicago at the time. Drawing on that energy made it very fun, and it felt like the right thing to do to make tracks that also felt like chaos.”
—Dan Milligan
Is there a track on the album that surprised you once it was finished, more than others?
Yes; there’s a track called Knife Fight Nihilism. It’s kind of an outlier. It wasn’t structured so much; we tend to be very song-oriented when we’re writing and this was much more free form, no specific verses and choruses. There’s always the chance that stuff like that isn’t going to go well; it’s a different set of skills. When I sent the track to Chris I wasn’t exactly sure where it was headed. He did an amazing job. There’s a female vocalist named Jane Jensen who recorded some vocals on there as well. By the time it was done, it was the most pleasant surprise. I was kind of shocked at how good of a job they had done and how the track had really pulled together and seemed cohesive, despite being chaotic and strange.
What comes next after the album drops? Will you organize a tour, and how does that even work with 80 different collaborators?
No, we’ve never actually played a live show. This whole thing has been a recording process; our real interest as a group is to write, record, and release music. We were thinking about doing some shows a handful of years ago, right before COVID hit, and then COVID took care of that. Since then we’ve really just leaned into focusing all our energy on writing music that inspires us and putting it out into the world. There’ll be no tour and no shows as far as I know. I never say never; there might be shows sometime in the future, but certainly not for this album. As for what comes next for The Joy Thieves, I’m not exactly sure. I do a lot of music production for other people as well. Right now we’ve cleared the decks of Joy Thieves things. I kind of wait to see what’s inspiring me and go down that path, and I’m still waiting to see what that next thing will be. It’s always a fun process to sit and wait and see where we’re going to head, because a lot of times it’s even a surprise to me.
Photos courtesy of The Joy Thieves
Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others
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