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Japanese Breakfast’s 2022 Grammys Diary: BTS, Doja Cat, Bieber, and More

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Michelle Zauner, a Best New Artist and Best Alternative Album nominee, on her first-ever Grammys experience

Japanese Breakfast

Japanese Breakfast, April 2022 (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Much to her own surprise, Japanese Breakfast snagged two 2022 Grammy nominations, one for Best New Artist and another for Best Alternative Album. When BTS announced the nominees for the Best Alternative Album category, way back in November, Michelle Zauner “screamed her head off,” she tells Pitchfork.

Fast forward four months, and dressed in a Jubilee yellow Valentino mini-dress, with mini persimmons hanging from her nails (which, according to Zauner, have left her with “really sore nail beds” but were “totally worth it”), she was ready for her first-ever Grammys.

And while Zauner may not have won an award, she did achieve what she really wanted to accomplish: getting a photo with BTS. In her own words, here’s what she saw and what she experienced Sunday night in Las Vegas. Follow along with all of Pitchfork’s Grammys coverage.

Housing a Hot Dog in Valentino

I only ate oatmeal all day. There was really no time because there was the red carpet and press, the first ceremony that is untelevised, and then you rush over to the second one. There’s no food or snacks or anything, so I was starving! I’m a hot dog fan, and we passed Nathan’s on the way to the ceremony, and all I could think about for the last hour was how badly I was going to destroy a hot dog afterwards. We left a little bit before they announced Record of the Year. Me and Craig Hendrix, my producer and drummer, had two hot dogs and cheese fries. And I was just in this puffy Valentino mini-dress housing a hot dog.

The Coveted Photo With BTS

I was like, This is the only thing I really care about accomplishing while I’m here. I’d already lost my two Grammys, so the best thing I could get of it was a photo with BTS. They came out after their performance and Megan Thee Stallion took a selfie with them. So I went up and I said, “Excuse me, can I get a photo with you?” in Korean. And I think they were like, “Woah, this girl speaks Korean!” They were really nice about it, and I got my photo.

Immediately after I posted the photo on Twitter, it just blew the fuck up. I watched the numbers climb and I was like, Woah, it’s been a minute and it has 10,000 likes, and now I think it has 500,000 likes. It was shared, like, 100,000 times. It’s wild. I’ve never experienced that before.

Doja Cat in the Bathroom During the Ill-Timed Pee She Mentioned On Stage

I went out during a commercial break and I was in the bathroom. Doja Cat came in, and I was like, “OMG, it’s Doja Cat! She’s going to pee next to me.” Then some woman came in and was like, “Doja Cat! Doja Cat! Doja Cat!” And all of sudden she was, like, yanking her by the wrists past me, and her skirt flew up and she flashed her ass to everyone running in to go and accept her award. They close the door and hold them during a commercial break, and once the show starts, they don’t let anyone back in, and so she was running with Doja Cat because she had just won.

Best New Artist Buddies Arlo Parks and Arooj Aftab

I was seated next to Arlo Parks, which was cool because I wasn’t sure who we were going to share a table with. And then Arooj was right next to me too. I’m a big fan of both of them. There is a certain type of camaraderie with indie artists that you feel immediately. It felt cool to be three indie artists that have infiltrated into the mainstream in this way. It was all really surreal for us.

Justin Bieber Sitting Cross-Legged on the Floor

I didn’t really leave my table except to look for BTS to get my photo. When I was looking for them, Justin Bieber was sitting on the ground for some reason. He was just so comfortable at the Grammys, that he was just sitting on the carpet! It was such a surreal moment to see Justin Bieber sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the carpet at the Grammys.

Billie Eilish Bracing for the Stage

I thought it [the Grammys] was going to be boring. But then I realized that 50% of the show is just performances. And you get to just watch the biggest pop stars put on the biggest performances they can, with the greatest production, back to back to back. I saw Billie Eilish let out a sigh as she went backstage, like she let out a breath to brace herself. And I was like, woah, I actually just watched Billie Eilish look kinda nervous, which is insane because she probably never gets nervous anymore unless it’s something like that. She plays stadiums all the time so it was cool to see everyone just bring their A game because it’s such an important moment for all these huge artists.

Juliane Gralle, a New Friend and Collaborator, On Stage With Lady Gaga

One crazy thing was seeing Juliane Gralle, who played trombone with us for the James Corden show and on our Spotify Bon Iver cover, performing with Lady Gaga. We’re kind of new friends, and Craig was like, “Is that Julian?!” We just saw her on the corner of the stage setting up for the Lady Gaga performance. And I was like, What a small world! And then she actually saw us and gave us a little wave before the commercial break was over. It was crazy to see a friend performing on the Grammys stage. It was one of those moments where we were both just like, “Look at us, huh!”

The Nightcap Hot Dogs

I heard that Olivia Rodrigo had an after party that had a cover charge… so I was like, I’m not going to go to that. Instead, I just got drinks and ate two hot dogs with my band. I don’t know if it was because I was so hungry but [the first hot dog] was the most satisfying, delicious thing I could have eaten in that moment. That’s why I had to recreate the experience for a second time, but it was not as good as the first one. I was wearing my Cheetos shirt for the second one. Maybe it didn’t taste as good because I wasn’t wearing couture.

 

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