Before the duo’s world tour of New York City, Non and Mark talk dancing ducks, pyrotechnics and performing in your car

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This week, first president of japan’s Mark and Non
— in the scaled-down-duo form known as first president of japan less plugged™ — will head out on tour in celebration of their new EP.

The pair’s epic world tour of New York City kicks off TONIGHT with a pre-release party and singalong at Sid Gold’s Request Room before proceeding to globally renowned venues including Secret Elevator, Moving Van, Row Boat and Your Car.

Among other stops.

As Non and Mark prepared for their sonic odyssey, we caught up with fpoj less plugged to learn more about how they’re physically and spiritually preparing for this first-of-its-kind tour and what their fans can expect from this epic run of shows.

Q&A W/ FPOJ

How are you feeling about hitting the road? How have you been preparing?

non: I love being on the road whether it’s big roads or the small roads, like they say, there are no small roads, just small bands. I’ve been preparing merch, and honestly nothing else. 

mark: I’m filled with nervous excitement! I’ve been doing laps at my local pool to prepare for the possibility of falling out of a canoe.

What can fans expect from the Less Plugged tour? Will there be background dancers? Pyrotechnics?!

mark: Fans can expect a lot of ups and downs, because we’ll be performing in an elevator. We checked with our pyro tech consultants and sadly they’ve advised against fireworks in the back of a U-haul van. But we DO anticipate some incredible background dancing from the ducks surrounding Turtle Pond.

non: I am always hoping that our audience is compelled to background dance or pyrotech (within reason. Holding a lighter up because you’re so MOVED by the EMOTIONAL MESSAGE of the MUSIC is technically pyrotechnics right?). I think the audience can expect to have to change location at certain tour stops. All the world’s a stage! 

What tour stop are you most excited to hit?

mark: YOUR car. Yes, YOURS.

non: I am looking forward to your home. I will be noting your decor. 

I know you’ve got fans on streets and in buildings across the boroughs. How did you decide  which elevator to play?! And where to park that U-Haul?!

non: 100% meritocracy.

mark: It was an open submission process. There are thousands of elevators in the city and this lucky one wrote the best essay.

How can we get tickets to this ~ exclusive ~ experience? How many tickets are available? And should fans beware of scalpers?

mark: We’re considering limiting re-sale prices due to our ethical stances against unfettered capitalism.

non: Yes, we are making a powerful statement against LiveNation and entertainment monopolies. You can register for the shows you’re interested in attending via Luma here.

It’s pay what you can and registration isn’t REQUIRED but also it makes my life easier to have everyone who needs an address or pin dropped for specific locations in one place. Please make my life easier <3 

Is flash photography allowed?

non: Always!

mark: Only if it’s that old-timey explosion thing from the 1910s.

What are your tour essentials?

mark: Bug spray, floss, change of socks.

non: Water bottle, throat coat tea, my prized possession TheraFace for my TMJ that most people think is a vibrator. 

This tour is taking you all the way across New York City!  How are you passing your time on the road?

mark: I’ve recently graduated to medium difficulty sudoku puzzles and it consumes 99 percent of my downtime.

non: I listen to extremely upsetting non-fiction books about the environment or capitalism (I get carsick!) and relay everything to Mark doing sudoku. I get my yaps out, he seems focused but isn’t listening. We both win. 

Tell me, how plugged is less plugged?

mark: We are fully wireless, somewhat amplified, and completely plugged into the zeitgeist.

non: You wouldn’t be able to handle UNplugged. 

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Learn more + grab your tix to catch fpoj less plugged on tour here!

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Follow the band at @firstpresidentofjapan, buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists now!

Feature image (provided by the band): Michelle LoBianco