Interview with Heather LaRose: “I don’t want to cry over some bum guy when I’m in the prime of my life!”
Heather LaRose turns a ten-day relationship into a playful breakup story with “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days.” Inspired by the Kate Hudson-led romantic comedy of the same name, the song reimagines her own dating experience through exaggerated schemes, cheeky lyricism, and the kind of humor that makes a bad breakup easier to laugh about. Beneath the fun, LaRose captures the frustration of giving a relationship your all only to realize that sometimes, even being a loving and committed partner isn’t enough to make someone stay.
For LaRose, this release also reflects a change in her approach to writing. She previously used songs to express emotions she found difficult to share. Now she wants them to reflect more of her personality and to feel excited about performing them live. Her intention to carry the story through to the production stems from a relationship with music that began in childhood, when she was already writing songs and looking for any opportunity to perform them.
Her approach to heartbreak is informed by a larger refusal to take every disappointment too seriously. LaRose’s own experiences have taught her that some pain changes your perspective on everything that comes after it, and she would rather laugh at a bad relationship than spend her time grieving someone who did not want to stay. With her next release, “The Death of a Bad Guy,” she takes that storytelling instinct into darker territory, continuing her Halloween anthology “The Horror Stories of Heather LaRose” with a new chapter built around the social death of an ex who was secretly married throughout their relationship.
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Heather, for listeners hearing your music for the first time, how would you describe your music and the stories you want to tell?
My writing style is a combination of being extremely tongue-in-cheek, blended with Sagittarius brutal honesty. I’m the type of person who can’t sit still, so I love leaning into action items in lyrics. When I’m in the studio during a production session, I want the instrumentation to continue telling the story. So in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” I wanted there to be upbeat twinkly synths that help communicate the laughable surrender of the lyrics. It’s a romcom gone wrong – which most of life is, until it isn’t, I guess. Can’t yet confirm.
When did you start writing songs? Do you remember a moment when it felt like a revelation that a personal experience could become music?
I’ve been writing songs my whole life. In first grade, I performed my first original song for the class about looking out my window. I’ve always been a dreamer and an observer, but that, coupled with being the chattiest girl in the room, has always pushed me to perform. I ended up later attending a performing arts high school in New York. I’ve always been so drawn to telling stories through music. I don’t think there’s ever been a moment where my writing didn’t feel musical to me.
Your audience also knows you for the dating stories you share on social media. How did you begin telling your life stories that way, and when did it start influencing your songs?
The first time I ever posted a relationship story, less than a week later it had a million views. Not gonna lie, it was the perfect Hallmark plotline that never saw its happy ending. But that’s what happens when the plot is better than the leading man. I was back in New York City, where I’m from, for a performance at Baby’s All Right when I got a message from the boy whose mom used to babysit me when we were like six years old. His mom was my mom’s best friend when they were in their 20s. He and I played Sleeping Beauty once or twice, so he messaged me saying, “Hey Heather, I saw that you were in New York. And since you were my first kiss, I figured it’s about time I take you out on a date. If you’d like to go out while you’re here?” Unfortunately, our work schedules didn’t line up then, but he told me that he would be willing to fly to Los Angeles to take me on a date. So I told him to put his money where his mouth is… and don’t you know, he ended up flying out here, rented me a Ferrari, and drove down the coast together. I got a little disposable camera and documented it all. We ended up dating for a few months until that had a messy fallout. And that was the first time I humiliated myself on the internet.
Let’s talk about “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.” The relationship that inspired the song ended exactly ten days after he asked you to be his girlfriend during a fairly elaborate date. When did you stop seeing it solely as a disappointment and start thinking, “I have to write about this”?
I have a hard time leaning into disappointment in relationships in general. Not to trauma dump but my first serious boyfriend passed away from cancer while we were in college. Because of how insanely heartbreaking that was, I have a hard time taking much of life too seriously. And that really shows its face in my dating life. I’ll often look at whatever current relationship I’m in and shrug and be like, “No one is dying.” That being said, I do not know how to see red flags.
This guy. Matched with him on Hinge. I hate dating apps; I’m much more of a meet ‘em in the wild kinda girl. Firstly, I want it on record that I tried ghosting him after the first, second, and third date. But he was resilient. Nothing I could do or say could scare him off. I ended up caving in and started seeing him more seriously. I met all his friends, and they still follow me on Instagram. We were basically spending every other day together. Then he took me on this horseback riding adventure in Malibu, then to dinner at this gorgeous spot on the beach. That was the date he asked me to be his girlfriend. That’s when the clock started ticking. The relationship made it 10 days. And the start of the fallout happened when I found a Ben Shapiro book on his bookshelf.
Why did you decide to make it a humorous song rather than a conventional heartbreak song?
In the past, I used songwriting to express the emotions I bottled up and didn’t feel comfortable expressing to people in my life. With my last release, and now “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”, I wanted to write in a way that reflects my personality. I’m a fatal optimist. Do you know how out of character it is for me to take the stage and just sing about the hard times? Of course there’s a time and place for that. But I want to write songs that I am excited to perform on stage. Nothing is worse than reopening a wound. Small heartaches can be something celebrated because they push you on to the right path. I don’t want to cry over some bum guy when I’m in the prime of my life!
The song suggests that you can be a wonderful girlfriend and still lose someone. Did that idea change the way you remember what happened?
Both my friends and I have experienced the dumbest breakups and just fickle men. Do they know what they want? Dating in LA is a hellscape. But at the heart of it, I’m a recovering theater kid and overachiever. I’ve always been the kind of girl to give it my all in everything—relationships included. Knowing me, I was for sure the complete caricature of a kind, caring, and dutiful girlfriend.
Of all the images and tactics in the lyrics, which was the most fun to write?
Oh, the second verse most definitely. I wanted to invoke all the whimsy and chaos of Kate Hudson’s Andie Anderson, but I wanted to up the anti in the second verse. I’ve never done the big dramatic explosions in a breakup. During a relationship, sure, when there is something to fight for, but for breakups, I’ve kind of always just been icy and swallowed any big feelings. It would probably feel like such a release to burn someone’s clothes in the backyard or throw up on their car. Wait. I have put a dead fish from the Hudson River in an ex’s car. Not sure if that counts. Probably does. For the record. The fish was dead with chunks missing from it when I found it by the shores of the river, and I did not kill the fish to commit the revenge moment.
What conversations do you hope the song starts among listeners?
I would love for women to not grieve losers. Me included! It’s the kind of song that will hold me accountable to practice what I preach. Life is full of heartache, and you shouldn’t waste time wanting someone who doesn’t want you. It’s okay to laugh over stupid breakups. Life is too long and too short to take too seriously.
This song brings together several sides of you as a songwriter, storyteller, and someone who can laugh at what hurts. What would you like to explore after this release?
Therapy. But I already have my next release lined up to come out! Last year, on Halloween, I released an EP called “The Horror Stories of Heather LaRose”. It’s taking the idea of basically everything I just talked about, but instead of a romantic comedy heroine, it’s looking at my life through the lens of a final girl. Each story becomes a horror story. My release plan for this project is modeled after American Horror Story. Every Halloween, I’ll add a new track to it. An anthology of sorts. This year’s release is called “The Death of a Bad Guy”. It explores the social death of my ex, who was secretly married our whole relationship. And you can imagine this was a breakup that had a little more weight to it than losing a man in 10 days.
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LaRose will continue turning her experiences into fiction with “The Death of a Bad Guy,” the next addition to “The Horror Stories of Heather LaRose,” a project she plans to expand with a new song every Halloween. This time, she will look at her life through the role of a horror movie survivor. Meanwhile, “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days” leaves her with a task she acknowledges she still needs to work on herself, as she tries to stop wasting time wanting someone who doesn’t want to be with her and allow herself to laugh about a breakup.
Follow Heather LaRose on Instagram and TikTok for more music and stories, and visit her official website to explore her releases.
