Today, we are super stoked to bring you the premiere of the new live record by Brooklyn-based punk band first president of japan! The EP is called You Can’t Have Your first president of japan and Eat It Too. It features 16 rocking live tracks that were recorded during lead vocalist Non Kuramoto’s 30th birthday show at Rabbit Hole in Brooklyn and perfectly capture the joyful, vigorous energy of a first president of japan show. Following an intro, there are 8 live versions of songs from their 2024 debut EP The Most Important Meal of the Day is first president of japan along with previously unreleased material, which the band will be recording soon for their upcoming full-length album, and 6 “Talky-Talk” tracks that highlight Non’s awesome stage banter. The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Cole Makuch. Speaking about the EP, Non said,
"I have to shout out Cole Makuch, the live recording and mixing/mastering engineer who was the true artist behind this EP. I’d been fixated on doing a banger of a birthday show for my 30th. Just as we’d secured a date and venue, Cole emailed us: “…still thinking about how crazy your set was.” “…would love to collaborate…” “love working on live-tracked material.”
In my ignorance of music recording tech language, I figured it meant he loves to record live shows. So of course “LET’S RECORD THIS BIRTHDAY SHOW!” was my response. I didn’t think I’d still be alive or performing, now I have this band that gives me reason for both, and I get to have this celebration captured in the form of a live EP? Sounds special, yes please!
As Cole described in his email, our live shows do tend to go rogue. Our songs are eclectic, we jump into the crowd, our guitarist Aki tends to sprint away leaving just the sound of his shredding in the room. Show day at the Rabbit Hole, Cole showed up with so much equipment (!) and even on our best “we’re being recorded today” behavior, we were stepping on everything, unplugging cables, knocking things and ourselves over… and somehow (skill, talent, time, actually,) he made us sound so good, so cool. He recently admitted to me that he’d meant live-tracked material in a semi-controlled space in the initial email - like a DIY studio, not a DIY show.
Whoops.
But look (or, listen! I guess) we did it!!!
This is all to say, this EP was born selfishly, as the best birthday present a guy could have ever asked for. I feel very lucky that first president of japan, the team at Rabbit Hole BK, Cole, and the crowd that night, whose cheers and laughter make this record sparkle, elevated it into something that I’m so proud to share with eeeeeeveryone. Thank you to all of y’all who have and will ever come out to see us play, and thank you to YOU for giving this EP a listen. I love you!! I am blowing kisses at you, wherever you are!!"
We also caught up with Non to hear about the stories behind each of the songs on that show's setlist. You Can’t Have Your first president of japan and Eat It Too will be out everywhere on November 22 and you can pre-order a copy right here. Listen to the EP and read Non’s track-by-track breakdown below!
You Can’t Have Your first president of japan and Eat It Too Track-By-Track Breakdown
“OSAKA”
Theeeeee first president of japan opening number. Our hello. Our welcome to the show. It’s loud, it’s stupid, it rocks. We play it at every show and people have demanded recordings, but it never felt like it made sense to record in a studio. So here! You! Go!
Lyrically, I’m mostly just shouting locations in Osaka, Japan. So deep, so poetic. Aki (Guitar), Yoko (Bass), and I are all originally from Osaka. That’s all. (Miranda Priestly voice.)
“My house isn’t made of bread, cake, or sugar.”
In general, we’re pretty collaborative in our songwriting process. Someone brings in an idea, we jam around it, I make demands like a bratty baby, the song finds a shape, I write the lyrics and melody, and then we play. For this one, Duncan (keys) ideated the main riff and chord progressions based on a poetry prompt: “Things unfinished.” My lapses in memory and dissociative episodes make a lot of my “unfinished things” kind of like breadcrumbs from past-me.
“WHALE SONG”
Whale calls and diapycnal mixing!!!!!!!! If you want to get into my love for whales… please find me at a show…
“Protein Shake”
This song was actually made pre-first president of japan. I got a little grant to make “virtual theatre” (LMAO) during COVID-19 lockdown, and made this song with my friend Bianca Estensen-Tijerino. There is a music video (filmed in my grandparents’ house in Osaka, hah - extremely in-the-thick-of-lockdown aesthetic) of the “pop” version we made back then somewhere on the internet, IF you’re curious. Oh, the song is technically an acrostic poem, IF you’re curious.
“KAYUI”
I told Dave Strawn (who was filling in on guitar while Aki was stuck in Japan, re: Talky-Talk 5 “Towel…!”) that, “I want a song that’s like capital letters MOSH PIT, but also like super horny, like a sexy, sweaty, mosh pit.” And he raised me, this. Perfection. Mmmhm.
Lyrically, it’s about how I dream about being a crunchy farmer person, but I’m allergic to a lot of things. So every time I’ve tried to get into it, I’ve broken out in hives. I don’t know how to reconcile this heart-need and biological rejection. Horny!
“Grapefruit Juice”
Sometimes you get sad during breakfast, you know?
“4AM”
As a lifelong insomniac, I know all about ceilings. Right now, I live on a street with a lot of traffic. All throughout the night traffic. The way their lights reflect and dance around on my ceiling is actually really beautiful. Pretty grateful for my current ceiling game.
“venus”
Aki said the riff came to him via an image of a woman leaving him on the beach at sunrise. Weirdly, that had happened to me before.
“WHATHAVEYOUEVERDONEFORME”
Or… “that opera one.” This one HAS to be experienced. Please think of this track as a formal invitation to come party with us.