2022 AAPI Heritage Month: Tales from a Japanese Breakfast Show with Hyejun Yoo

The SENSES Project AAPI Heritage Month Podcast Series

Hyejun Yoo is a senior studying Advertising in the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications and Information Management and Technology at the School of Information Studies. Hyejun is a huge Japanese Breakfast fan and is also the student chosen to interview Michelle Zauner for the 2022 AAPI Heritage Month Keynote.

In this podcast, Hyejun sat down with SSS Associate Director Amy Messersmith from The SENSES Project. They first talk about Hyejun’s love of music and how she came to be an avid concert goer - whether she had someone to go with or not. Going to shows alone might be unusual for an Asian American female, but Hyejun realized that if she doesn’t go, not only would she miss out on seeing some of her favorite artists, but there might not be any Asian American representation at the shows she attends.

Hyejun the talks about her experience of seeing Japanese Breakfast live in October 2021 in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, live shows were put on hold in 2020, so this show holds an extra special place in Hyejun’s memory because it was the first live show since the pandemic started. Hyejun takes you there - from lining up outside the venue, to getting to the barricade, to the balloon drop that ended the show. This show was a significant experience for a young Korean American woman who loves live music and the band Japanese Breakfast.

Intro music is "Road Head" by Japanese Breakfast. Introduction by Merci Sugai. Edited by Merci Sugai and Amy Messersmith. Podcast was recorded in spring 2022.