Ask an Insider: Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner on Her Tour Essentials and Fender’s New Meteora Electric Guitar

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn the day before Thanksgiving 2021, Variety interviewed Michelle Zauner about her close friend Sasami and her new album “Squeeze” for our “Up Next” series — and since Zauner had just received two Grammy nominations two days before, we asked her about those as well, along with the success of her moving memoir about the death of her mother, “Crying in H Mart” and its forthcoming film, her songwriting process, and what might be coming next.We’d originally thought that we’d be publishing this article just a few weeks later, in advance of the Grammys Awards that were then scheduled for January 31, but the pandemic had other plans; the awards are now taking place this Sunday, April 3, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Regardless, Zauner’s comments on all of the above are relevant and a revealing look at her creative and craft processes and inspirations — and check out our “Up Next” video on Sasami here.

Japanese with updates from their country that bring the harsh realities of war closer to Japan.The Russian invasion of Ukraine began just after the duo, Sava Tkachov, 26, and his younger brother Yan, 20, celebrated the second anniversary of their YouTube debut with subscribers exceeding 2 million for their Sawayan Channel and Sawayan Games that Sava hosts.The first word of war came from their father, a business consultant who had returned to Kyiv two months ago just before Russian troops rolled in and has stayed since to help defend his country. The siblings’ YouTube content, which used to be full of pranks, jokes and action videos, has become more serious.Worried about their 53-year-old father and friends in Ukraine, the brothers in early March announced on their channel that they planned to volunteer as defenders too.

Japanese Breakfast has shared a cover of Bon Iver‘s ‘Skinny Love’ as part of the Spotify Singles series, highlighting this year’s Best New Artist Grammy nominees. Listen to the track below.“We decided to record Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ because it felt like a very surprising cover for Japanese Breakfast,” Michelle Zauner said.

Doubling down on investment and expanding its offer in Japan, Prime Video has unveiled a slate of new Japanese originals including a reboot of iconic game show Takeshi’s Castle and a local adaptation of anthology series Modern Love. The streamer revealed the lineup at a showcase event in Tokyo today, where it also announced it will livestream the World Bantamweight title fight between Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire on June 7.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFlorence + the Machine are set to play an extended run of headline dates later this year, kicking off September 2 in Montreal with further stops including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and many more. One dollar from every ticket sold will benefit Choose Love to aid refugees worldwide.The group has assembled a formidable array of up-and-coming support acts at select dates on the tour: Arlo Parks, Sam Fender, King Princess, Yves Tumor, Japanese Breakfast and Wet Leg will join as support on select dates throughout the tour.

Florence + the Machine, the celebrated British pop act helmed by Florence Welsh, will tour across the United States later in 2022. Each show will be opened by one of the following acts: Japanese Breakfast, Yves Tumor, Arlo Parks, Wet Leg, Sam Fender, and King Princess.

Not surprisingly, the most celebrated film of the year took one of the most coveted Oscars in the world. No, this isn’t about “Power of the Dog” or the Best Picture race.

Shinji Aoyama, the Japanese film director, writer and composer known for the film “Eureka,” which won him two prizes at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, died March 21 in Tokyo after a battle with esophageal cancer, according to local reports. He was 57.Aoyama made waves in the international film community when he premiered “Eureka” at Cannes.

Sometimes your mum deserves spoiling, and luckily, there are plenty of places to do it in Manchester this weekend, from endless afternoon teas to unlimited amounts of gravy. Should that be her thing.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Dexter” and “The Blacklist” producer Daniel Cerone has boarded the U.K. adaptation of Japanese crime drama format “Connected,” Variety can reveal.The veteran producer is overseeing the U.K.

Glamour's favorite new spring books coming out in March 2022. All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.Sekyiamah, a Ghanaian feminist activist, has been writing honestly, openly, and sensually about African women and sex for over a decade. For The Sex Lives of African Women, which The Economist named one of the best of the year, BuzzFeed praised, and the Guardian called “a book like none you will have read before,” she spoke to 30 women, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s and hailing from 31 countries.

HYBE Labels subsidiary Source Music has confirmed that its upcoming girl group, which includes former IZ*ONE members Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won, are set to debut in May.Today (March 21), the agency confirmed to News1 that their next K-pop act are preparing to debut in May. The news comes just a week after Source Music confirmed that it had signed ex-IZ*ONE’s Miyawaki Sakura and Kim Chae-won as members of its upcoming girl group.“The first girl group created under HYBE with Kim Chae-won and Miyawaki Sakura is preparing with an aim to debut in May,” said the agency, as translated by Soompi.

“Best Supporting Actress” for “Minari” in 2021) for acting stars in the Apple TV+ adaptation of the generation-spanning 2017 novel “Pachinko.” “This role was suitable for my age – she’s 74,” Yuh-jung, 74, told The Post. “I read the script first.

Ellie Kemper is looking to sell her Manhattan home!Kemper, known to many as the star of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” — a Netflix sitcom in which she played a woman rescued from a doomsday cult who’s adjusting to life in New York City — will list her elegantly designed Upper West Side co-op for $3.35 million, The Post has learned.The renovated unit, adorned with pastel-toned walls and handsome herringbone hardwood floors, has three bedrooms and three full bathrooms — and opens off a semi-private elevator vestibule. Kemper, a Missouri native and an alumna of Princeton University, purchased the prewar pad alongside her husband — the comedian and television writer Michael Koman — for $2.8 million, according to records filed with the city Department of Finance in early 2016.

Lady Gaga is the lady of the night at the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards!

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCrunchyroll is inviting fans of the Dragon Ball anime franchise to hop on their Flying Nimbus cloud — and stream more than 500 episodes of the fan-favorite series that were previously available only on Funimation.For the first time, Toei Animation’s “Dragon Ball,” “Dragon Ball Z” and “Dragon Ball GT” are now available to watch on Sony’s Crunchyroll streaming service in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.The three series come to Crunchyroll as part of another wave of new content from Funimation, after Sony on March 1 announced that the two services would merge into a single unified Crunchyroll service. The trio of shows joins “Dragon Ball Super,” which has been available on Crunchyroll with English subtitles.

Japanese Breakfast‘s Michelle Zauner has joked about comparisons between a new Machine Gun Kelly album cover and her 2021 album, ‘Jubilee’.Kelly’s sixth studio album, ‘Mainstream Sellout’, was announced yesterday (March 14) with a track-list and album art being shared. Upon the reveal of the cover art, Rolling Stone drew a parallel between it and the cover of ‘Jubilee’ for its positioning and placement of coloured tomatoes.Zauner initially responded to the comparisons via Twitter, joking that she had stumbled into the “feud of the year” on account of them.

Red Velvet have shared teasers and details of their debut Japanese-language studio album ‘Bloom’.On March 12, the quintet unveiled the promotional schedule for ‘Bloom’.