Libby Larkin is a songwriter from NYC, who recently released her first EP L|A in 2020, detailing her raw emotional experience within her relationships. Larkin gave an exclusive interview to AfterEllen about what she has been up to and how she creates her art.
Libby shot me an email after my review of Miley Cyrus’ album, Plastic Hearts, went live on AfterEllen. After listening to her music and podcast, and watching her hilarious Instagram stories, I knew there was something pretty original about Larkin’s work. I sat down with Libby to chat about songwriting, moving, and what a perfect day would look like.
“I’m a songwriter from NYC. I’ve been writing music professionally for about four years,” Larkin said. “I finally got the guts to release my own music in 2020 when the apocalypse hit! Ever since my first release, I’ve decided that I was only going to release music whenever something super intense or impactful was occurring in my life. Hence my most recent release which was my break up album called L|A.”
Larkin pulls a lot of musical inspiration directly from daily life. For example, Larkin’s break up album was exactly that; L|A details her tumultuous breakup story about finding her girlfriend in bed with her best friend.
“I traveled to LA to visit my ex and I ended up catching her and my best friend sneaking around behind my back,” Larkin said. “I caught them on recording confessing that they’ve been lying to me for weeks and it inspired three solid ‘fuck you’ songs which I made into my first ever EP.”
In “Intro,” Larkin talks about feeling bad about recording this album, because it’s hard to listen to people that you think love you talk about you in a terrible way. Larkin says, “I hate that I miss them,” and the album moves into the “fuck you” songs from there. However, Larkin becomes extremely vulnerable in this record, singing authentically about their experience.
“I had to get over my fear of being vulnerable,” Larkin said. “I always saw vulnerability as weakness and in reality it takes an insane amount of strength to be vulnerable. I also learned to stop giving a fuck about what everyone thinks around me and to do what brings me joy.”
Besides music, Larkin also has a successful podcast in the same vein as her EP, talking to others about what it’s like to be heartbroken. The podcast, Here for the Heartbreak features guests who come on the show to talk about how they got their hearts broken, in a comedic way.
“Here for the Heartbreak is a comedy podcast in which I bring guests on to discuss the heartbreaks that they’ve experienced throughout their lives and what advice they’d want to share with the listeners,” Larkin said. “It’s honestly been my favorite part of this year so far. I’m so grateful that so many of my friends are willing to come on and share their vulnerable stories. It brings me so much joy.”
Larkin loves to help and inspire others, especially through art. Being creative is therapeutic for Larkin, and her hope is that it’s also therapeutic for others. Her podcast and music serve as creative outlets to push through their own heartbreak, and help others to do the same.
“Helping other artists write meaningful songs about difficult situations that they’re going through in their life,” Larkin said. “[It’s] kind of like a therapy session but in more of a creative way.”
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In her song, “Hard Way” Larkin talks about learning lessons the hard way. A lot of us have been there, where heartbreak can be all consuming. By adding in phone calls with her friend about the album, Larkin creates a more intimate experience that we can all relate to. You can hear Larkin’s true vulnerability, as she is scared to be so personal in the public eye. However, since her EP has dropped and podcast has started, Larkin has been living out a lot of her dreams.
“[My perfect day looks like] Wake up around 10am and throw on My Favorite Murder and jump in the shower,” Larkin said. “Have my cup of tea and watch some Netflix. Then I’ll either go to the studio with my writing partner or do a zoom session. Then go have a drink with some of my buddies on their rooftop. That’s honestly a perfect day for me.”
While things are pretty good for Larkin right now, growing pains came standard with coming out and being a part of the gay community. Social media has given them the platform to create music that listeners will hear on a larger scale, as well as hosting their successful podcast.
“I wouldn’t have the following on my social media if it wasn’t for the LGBTQ community,” Larkin said. “My main fan base is queer [sic] youth and I’m so grateful and honored that they find comfort in my music. I know there’s a chance my music may not reach the heterosexual community but my main focus is for my music to reach and speak to the homosexual community. I’m blessed to be queer and I want there to be more queer artists and writers at the forefront of the music industry.” Larkin has identified with homosexual and queer communities, as well as stating a comfortability with any pronouns.
It’s evident that Larkin has a lot of different creative outlets and things going on in her professional life. So, what’s next for this singer songwriter?
“Right now I’m moving to California for the summer to continue writing music with some of my LA friends,” Larkin says. “I have three singles lined up which will be released throughout this year. I’m going to continue writing for my catalogue with my songwriting partner and trying to pursue my dream of being signed to a publishing company!”
You can stream Larkin’s music on Apple Music, Souncloud, and Spotify. If you want to listen to Here for the Heartbreak, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts!
