{"id":2447368,"date":"2019-08-09T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T15:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=869282"},"modified":"2019-08-09T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T15:35:14","slug":"japanese-breakfasts-michelle-zauner-on-grief-wacky-synths-and-writing-prose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/japanese-breakfasts-michelle-zauner-on-grief-wacky-synths-and-writing-prose\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Breakfast\u2019s Michelle Zauner on Grief, Wacky Synths and Writing Prose"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Michelle Zauner has always written about grief. The 30-year-old musician, who performs under the name Japanese Breakfast<\/a>, joined Rolling Stone<\/em> for \u201cMorning Sessions<\/a>,\u201d in which she discussed her writing process, her brief stint as a 9-to-5 New Yorker and the allure of Tears for Fears<\/a>\u2019 wacky Eighties synths.<\/p>\n

Zauner \u2014 who lost her mother to cancer in 2014 \u2014 describes the pain and grief she went through while making her impressive debut Psychopomp<\/em> in 2016. For her sophomore album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet<\/em> a year later, she attempted to make a \u201cspacey concept record,\u201d citing Granddaddy\u2019s The Sophtware Slump<\/em> as an inspiration. However, she still realized she had some grief to process. \u201cIt stunted me in a very serious way,\u201d she tells RS<\/em> senior editor Brendan Klinkenberg. \u201cMy mother had still just died\u2026it felt really unnatural to not<\/em> write about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from songwriting, Zauner also writes non-fiction and is currently working on a memoir. She traces her love of prose back to 2016, when she left her home of Eugene, Oregon to New York City. \u201cI quit music and decided I was going to work a 9-to-5 job in advertising\u2026which in New York City is more like, 8-to-7,\u201d she cracks. She had grown wary of \u201cgetting paid in cans of soup and cigarettes\u201d and decided to throw in the towel. She wrote an essay during this time that was published by Glamour<\/em><\/a>, only to have Psychopomp<\/em> simultaneously take off. She\u2019s been balancing music and writing ever since.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the interview, Zauner lists her influences \u2014 Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, the band the 1975, and Frank Ocean \u2014 and her love of video<\/a> games. She also discusses her new song, titled \u201cEssentially,\u201d and her spooky, synth-heavy cover of Tears for Fears\u2019 \u201cHead Over Heels,\u201d<\/a> which were both recorded in Bali. When Klinkenberg asks about the future of Japanese Breakfast, Zauner takes a sip of water and simply answers, \u201cUp!\u201d<\/p>\n