Japanese Breakfast is an emo band from Philadelphia led by singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, who is Korean on her mother’s side and Caucasian on her father’s side.
“My mom was really confused by my creative interests and tried to sway me away from them and after many years finally relented,” Zauner said, about her upbringing and her fall into music. “She just wanted me to be happy.”
Zauner dedicated “Psychopomp,” Japanese Breakfast’s critically acclaimed debut album to her mother, who lost a fight with cancer. The album cover is an old photo of her mother in her younger years.
A large chunk of the record deals with her mother’s illness and Zauner’s grief. “I was trying to figure out how I felt [with this album] and trying to console myself with the work,” she said.
