Ahead of our upcoming SXSW showcase on March 19th at Space 24 Twenty, we spoke with Michelle Zauner, frontwoman of the band Japanese Breakfast (and headliner of our showcase!), who chatted to us about why she loves performing at festivals, what she's looking forward to experiencing in Austin, and why it's okay to take your time.

You've obviously had a very busy year and it looks like you've been nonstop lately. How do you balance everything?

Yeah, I think that there are busy waves, and I am the type of person that constantly complains about being busy, but I think secretly really enjoys being very busy. I feel like I have all of my dream jobs right now, so I mostly just feel very lucky.

We saw you perform on Ellen and The Late, Late Show recently, and you were also on the show Take Out with Lisa Ling on top of being 29 weeks on the NYT bestseller list. When you look at everything that you've accomplished, is there anything that hits you the hardest and made you think you can't believe this happened?

Yeah, I feel like the two major career-defining moments that happened this year was becoming a New York Times bestseller and a two-time Grammy nominee. Those are things that are attached to your name until you die. And I've never had something like that before, so it was crazy that those two things happened in the same year.

And congratulations on that! I feel like that's just so amazing that you're able to say that now.

Yes, it is very bizarre.

As an artist who was unable to tour for a chunk of time due to COVID, do you feel a need to make up for lost time now?

I feel that way all the time. It always feels like time is slipping away from you, and you're rushing to make the most of it. But I think if anything, I would like to feel that the pandemic made me realize how malleable life is, and how adaptable you have to be to get through it. So yeah, I think I'm trying to take away that it's okay to take your time and not rush, more so than making up for lost time. I remember during lockdown, I was like, "I'm going to go out all the time when this is over." And I've gone out quite a bit this week, and I am already really over it. So, I think balance is really key.

I read that, after not performing for a while, you were feeling nervous again about performing. Has that dissipated? And do you feel back in the groove of things?

I definitely get nervous. I come from a DIY background and started this gig playing house shows and booking my own band and doing all that stuff. It was never supposed to be this big. So this year has brought in a lot of moments where I'm just like, I don't know why I am in this position, and I want to try to rise to meet the occasion. But I know the type of people who watch Ellen are probably like, "Who is this person?"

It's definitely been a struggle this year more than ever, feeling like I deserve to be here, but all you can really do is to try to work as hard as possible. And I feel like I do certain things to make me feel worthwhile, and that's just working really hard and studying. I've taken some vocal lessons and some guitar lessons because I constantly want to feel like I deserve to be here.

We saw the picture of you with Fez from Euphoria at NYFW. Did you have any other exciting encounters there? Does it feel surreal to be there in that moment too?

"Yeah. I've gone to a couple of events for New York Fashion Week before, but this was the first time that I went to multiple shows in the week. And I'm very shy about that type of stuff. I wouldn't describe myself as a shy person, but I don't have the confidence of that level of celebrity. But yeah, it's really fun. I'm a big Euphoria fan, and he's such a darling character. My manager was really heckling me to ask for a photo, and it took a lot of being in the green room together for me to muster up that courage. I've also been wanting to meet Rina Sawayama for a long time. We're friends online, and I feel like she's the one that I'm always rooting for. It was nice to finally get to meet her at that same show. Who else did I see? I saw Megan Thee Stallion across the way, but I definitely did not talk to her. That was exciting."

Pivoting a bit, for South by Southwest, what are you looking forward to? Is there anything that you're looking forward to experiencing while you're in town?

"Actually, I feel like I'm one of the few musicians that really loves South By. I had a really charmed experience there, where my career really came together in 2016 because of South by Southwest. I got a booking agent. I got my new label, all the stuff, all the miracle stuff that you hope happens at South By is what happened to me.

I feel like every year that I've gone back there, it's been really fun to see how we've grown from being an opening unpaid band playing nine different showcases and running around, to slowly headlining. I've really enjoyed feeling like when I returned there, we've grown so much as a band. Our team is largely in Austin too. I'm most excited to hang out outside and drink margaritas and eat tacos. I just exclusively eat tacos and drink margaritas there."

What are you looking forward to about headlining UO’s show?

What am I most excited about? I just love Austin. I love outdoor festivals. I feel like I'm a rare breed that enjoys that, but I think Japanese Breakfast is really fun because we have a pretty diverse catalog of songs. And so for a festival set that's generally somewhat shorter, we can really bring out all the bangers and hits. I'm excited to bring the six-piece band for this festival that is near and dear to me. I think it'll be a good time.

You guys are pretty much playing every single major festival in the world for the next three months, which seems either very fun or very stressful. What are you looking forward to with all those different shows coming up?

I said this before, but when you play a headlining club gig, it's like you are in a long-term committed relationship, where people know you a little bit deeper and you can reveal slower, less interesting parts of your catalog. But an outdoor festival is like flirting. It's like meeting people for the first time and enticing them with the most boisterous, exciting parts of your personality and only showing them the best parts, if that makes any sense. And so I like that feeling of just having a new audience where no one knows that much about you, and you just get to show the shiniest parts of yourself. I really enjoy that feeling. And it's just a shorter day. There's less waiting around. It's a lot of fight or flight moments at a festival. And I really thrive off of that energy, and I feel like typically we have a pretty good festival band.

Catch Japanese Breakfast on March 19th at Space 24 Twenty in Austin!