In this interview, we dive into the creative journey behind Little King’s latest album, Lente Viviente, and its provocative single, “Who’s Illegal?” From Tucson’s historic Presidio San Agustin to the complex social and political questions surrounding immigration and identity, we explore how personal experience, place, and a deep love for progressive rock come together in Ryan Rosoff’s songwriting. 

By Sandra Pinto

He shares the stories behind the lyrics, the innovative musical structures, and the visual storytelling in the music video, revealing how each element contributes to a broader conversation about empathy, history, and belonging.

What inspired you to write “Who’s Illegal?” and how did the connection with Tucson and the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson come about?
I moved from Seattle to Tucson in 1990, as I was so sick of the rain that I needed a change of scenery ASAP. The University of Arizona said “Yes”so off I went. I met a girl, fell in love, and moved 4.5 hours east to El Paso, TX in 1992, and that really became home for most of the next 15 or so years. My mom moved here in 2000, though, so I maintained a strong connection to Tucson for the last 25 years, even if I wasn’t living here. Finally, when COVID hit and everything got weird, I sold my house in Delaware and moved back to Tucson to be closer to family. Plus, my heart is really in the southwest, and I just missed it so much. El Paso is fine, but Tucson speaks to me in a way that few other places in the world do. As an apartment dweller for most of the past 5 years, I had to find a place to make noise without being “that guy” Okay, I guess I am still That Guy, just not the one who you hate through the wall/floor. The legendary spot for bands and rehearsals in Tucson is a spot on Pennington downtown called Francisco’s Studios, and while the management of this “business” is basically non-existent, I stayed persistent and finally found a suitable place to call my rehearsal space. I've been there now for almost 4 years, and it has definitely
changed my life in a number of ways.
The studio is in a neighborhood downtown called The Presidio. This area was established as a Spanish fort in about 1775, and the idea that it has changed hands many times over the last 250 years is intriguing. Having said that, the idea of any Europeans "owning" this land is specious to me, as we so easily forget the native people who inhabited and thrived here for so long before anyone else got here!
My daily walks to listen to demos, conceptualize lyrics, and to take in the sights usually take me right past the old fort and the adjacent restored buildings. Set against this backdrop, the current debate over immigration, the scourge of homelessness and addiction, and the concept of “belonging” all came to a head. I couldn’t NOT write about it. That’s where the ideas come from, right? Taking my personal experiences and relating them to broader topics. (As an aside, I always love people from New York and Minnesota and WHEREVER
lecturing us down here about what should be done about the border. Like…I’m not qualified to talk about farm subsidies and the NYC mayor’s ideologies…maybe we should all be better listeners?)

The lyrics address immigration, identity, and social division. How do you hope listeners will interpret the message of the song?
The narrative is intentionally split into 3 parts: The modern “native” Anglo population of Tucson who complains about immigrants without irony, the “resistance” who try and bring some historical and empathetic perspective, and, course, the immigrants and natives
themselves whose ancestors inhabited this land far before any artificial lines or blood was shed in the name of “Ownership” In the video, these narrative shifts are signaled by the changing colors of the lone walker…perhaps you can draw your own conclusions about which color represents which narrator? That part is NOT abstract, even if some of the other images may seem to be.
I hope our audience will consider this as an examination of the different sides of the immigration debate and then have the curiosity to explore the history of our beautiful city and examine their own prejudices. We are ALL biased. That’s not up for debate…but what IS open for discussion is how those prejudicial visions of how things SHOULD be affect how we treat each other. Only through empathy, compassion, understanding, and historical perspective can we solve our problems with solutions that serve us all.

Musically, the track alternates between 6/8 and 9/8 time signatures. How did these choices come about to reflect the lyrical tension of the song?
The music for that part was written first. That’s actually the case for 95% of all Little King songs throughout the last 28 years, really. I had a general idea of what the lyrical content would be, and so that middle section of alternating time signatures seemed a natural place to have the Resistance Narrator come to the fore. Reminds me of a progressive Rage Against the Machine hybrid, and I’m very proud of that section. I’m RAGING, but I’m raging with melody and math…quite a feat, no?
The 6/8 part grooves, and it allows me (especially live) to breathe through the lyrics of “Tell me…Who’s Illegal?” and “It’s Eeeeeeeeeeeee-vil” before crunching up and delivering the crux of the message when it goes to 9/8. I’m a fan of Prog Rock that delivers complexity without being gratuitous, and I think that 95% of our audience doesn’t know or care WHAT signature a passage is in. As such, it should just feel right, and I definitely think it does in that middle section.

The official video was filmed across various locations in Tucson. What was the concept behind the visuals, and how do they complement the song’s narrative?
The drone footage captures all of the different parts of The Presidio and the surrounding areas. I thought it was wise to feature the very land I’m referencing in the song while showcasing our downtown. My friend Laura is a master droner (is that a thing?) and was so fun to work with, walk with, and scheme with. Much of that footage is “South Presidio” where the protagonist in the song lives. But it’s true that one doesn’t have to know that to appreciate the visual appeal of this very unique landscape.
I already referenced the Walking Man and the different color coding of those passages. In addition, there are some scenes at the end that are clearly not from Tucson! I loved the way that it inferred that the message isn’t strictly confined to the borderland or to the Mexican/US
border; this is a topic that is universal, and the immigrants live EVERYWHERE…even that lone seagull at the end. Of course, the Statue of Liberty is an obvious symbol, and I felt quite compelled to use her as the Alpha and Omega visuals. Are we the land of the free, no? We
are a nation of immigrants, right? Tell me…who’s illegal?

Is there a memorable story or moment from the recording or filming of “Who’s Illegal?” that you’d like to share?
Just that it was EMPTY downtown when we shot the footage. This is a metropolitan area of over 1 million people, but downtown Tucson is NOT a hub of activity most days. It was actually quite eerie and apropos…we felt like we were, as I sing in the song, “all alone in the Presidio” I kept waiting for someone to stop us…no no one even noticed except an older couple who wanted to see how a drone worked. Laura obliged them!

The album is described as Little King’s most ambitious project to date. What challenges and discoveries emerged during its creation?
Lente Viviente was the smoothest, most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had recording a Little King album. The band lineup was different, as Tony Bojorquez (drums) just joined, and Dave Hamilton (bass and cello) had worked with me in the past, but only as a cellist and string arranger. Those guys are THE BEST musicians and people. In addition, we recorded here in Tucson for the first time with our friend Ricky Wascher at Cimamusic. He’s got great ears, a wonderful disposition, and is a master at vocal harmonies. A savant in that regard, really!
We pushed the boundaries of what a song under 4 minutes can accomplish. As the press release says, the term “micro-epics” stuck with us. We would get to the end of a song or the whole set in rehearsal and check the timer…NO WAY was that only 26 minutes! Yes, it actually was and is! There was really an audio illusion happening, intentionally, that stretched time. I think this is a result of building complex parts and structures into songs that are also (hopefully) pretty catchy. That was the stated goal, and judging from the audience and critical response to the record, I think we got it right.
Special mention of the working relationship between 3 people who’ve never met and yet collaborated in a way that brought the album to life in a unique and brilliant way…Ricky as the recording engineer, Daniel Salcido as the mixing engineer, and Maor Appelbaum as the mastering engineer. The flow was so good between them all in their stages of handing the album off to each other that it was like we were all making decisions together. I have to say, the album SOUNDS great…I hear that and read that a lot, and it’s super-gratifying. I have a lot of experience managing people in other capacities, and I felt really comfortable managing this process. Having pros who care and are nice people helps tremendously, of course.

Each track is presented as a “micro-epic.” How do you balance musical complexity with concise storytelling in each song?
Right…as referenced before, I like Prog Rock as a vehicle for musical and lyrical storytelling that is concise AND complex. That’s a challenge that I don’t think a lot of people take on. I love bands like Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Tool, and on and on. Having said that, I prefer the
concise era of 80s Rush, 90125 from Yes, Genesis’s eponymous album, and the other prog acts that balanced brevity and complexity.
I think we have a viral case of ADHD in our band! We all want to make music that holds OUR attention as well as our fans ears. That’s an ambitious goal, and the idea of 10-minute epics just doesn’t appeal to me as a writer. I edit incessantly, and when I hear a passage that is 32 bars long, my immediate reaction at this point in my career is to wonder if it might not be more effective in half the time. I used to shred and wank and wanna show people how much guitar I practiced. That was youthful exuberance and a bit of ego. That is mostly GONE! Now, it’s the song and the marriage of music and lyrics that keep me going. I have only a couple of true guitar solos on this record, and they are emotive rather than technical.
Finally, we all have our moments on stage of stepping out, extending things in an improvisational way, and creating that push and pull tension that comes with a great live performance. So, expect that these songs will be quite different in places in a live setting.
We just finished a couple of days of intense rehearsals, and damn if we didn’t morph some of those micro-epics into ACTUAL epics in the rehearsal studio. Good times…

The album explores themes such as memory, identity, aging, and resilience. What is the central message you want to convey to listeners?
Oh, I don’t really wanna convey any specific message. Great art should be open to interpretation, I think. The mission of Little King is to get people to THINK, to consider their own biases and how they affect their lives and those around them. Lente Viviente is that ethos reduced to a title! The “living lens” is quite literally How We See Things and what we can do to change our perspective to be kinder, more present, and more thoughtful. I don’t know if the desired effect ends up as the outcome, but we tried. Hard.
We are all the product of our upbringing, our cultural heritage, our DNA, and too many other external and internal factors to count. Have some respect for the fact that we are all biased. Step back from it, consider it, and understand that someone from a completely different
place and background might have totally opposing and quite authentic opinions. Use that to evaluate your own. How do we see ourselves? Each other? Having said that, there is NO EXCUSE for oppressing other people and their right to pursue liberty and happiness. It’s the
foundation of our country as well as a basic tenet of human decency. If your religion, your parents’s philosophies, your political affiliations, etc., cause you to oppress another, that’s NOT OKAY. Maybe that’s what I’m really trying to say…

How was it working with new members Dave Hamilton (bass) and Tony Bojorquez (drums) in the creation of the album?
Amazing! Great musicians, even better people, and when you find SUPER TALENT mixed with CARE, you hang on for dear life. Dave and I know each other well, as I said, from working on the last 3 records (he played cello and arranged strings on Occam’s Foil in 2019 and Amuse De Q in 2021). Tony is a new friend who hits all the right notes personally and professionally. They bring a wealth of varied experience (from busking in NYC subways to Red Rocks) as well as stylistic breadth and depth. Funk, Prog, Latin Jazz, Big Band, Metal…we have a bit of everything. I can’t say enough about how well they took their parts and understood the assignment. I’m beyond grateful, and I am so excited to unleash this live.
Little King has always been about making music with my friends, and we’ve had a lot of turnover (mostly by design) over 28 years. I think that I may have finally found the formula, though. Knock on wood!

Is there a particular track on the album that you consider especially personal or significant to the band?
They’re all personal, but the first two songs are rooted in nostalgia. “Catch and Release” celebrates the art of fly fishing and my childhood memories of fishing with my dad in Montana and later in Eastern Washington on the Yakima River. “Dawn Villa” is the name of the neighborhood that I grew up in just outside of Seattle. There are a ton of “;inside jokes” in there, but hopefully the lyrics and music are also universal enough to appeal to everyone.
I was always taught to “write what you know” Sure…that’s a basic formula for authenticity and verisimilitude, but the challenge is to make those very personal stories and themes into something with broader meaning. It’s a fun challenge, for sure. I get better at it as I go, I
think. Every track on the record is a direct reference to my experience, for sure. But a song like “Kindness for Weakness” is quite widely applicable. Most of us feel this way…and it references that broader conceptual theme of the Lens and how we see ourselves and our
world versus how others perceive us. “Hardcore…but hollow in the middle” I really do feel that way.

Since 1997, Little King has evolved greatly in terms of technical skill and creativity. How would you describe this evolution and its impact on your current sound?
If you don’t get better, what are you even doing?! I think maturity and experience are undefeated, although there’s certainly something to be said for youthful exuberance. For Little King, though, the nuance is the thing, and that’s tough to achieve without the technical expertise as well as the patience and ability to “hire wel”.
I am a way more confident singer. That’s unequivocal! That’s just hard work and better self-awareness as well as the enhanced technical ability to hit the note in the key with theemphasis that the lyric requires. That’s SUBTLE, you know? But it’s so important for music like ours to find those dynamic spaces and then have the ability to pull it together. I really don’t know if I got there until maybe 2019. That’s a full 22 years after I started!

Ryan Rosoff combines literary experience with musical composition. How does this influence the writing and structure of your songs?
I studied Creative Writing in college and then taught high school English for a while. The basics were to avoid cliches, paint pictures with vivid words, and to use a frigging thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, and varied poetic structures to achieve unique compositions. It’s not hard to write a song, but it’s hard to write a unique song that conveys an idea or sentiment in a way that hasn’t quite been done before.
When you read and study the language at a higher level, a whole new world opens up. I am grateful to have grown up in a literate family, and we always valued words and language as a sort of mark of elevated consciousness and intellect. So, when I want to write about my childhood, immigration, addiction, love, or whatever, I have a pretty deep toolbox. The hidden challenge now, though, is to not repeat myself! I have to go through all of my catalog as I am writing new lyrics and music to make sure that I don’t plagiarize myself. It’s a weird and highly legit quandary!
I studied the classics, and I became a huge fan of some great lyricists. Neil Peart, Roger Waters, Donald Fagan, Robert Hunter,David Byrne, Jon Lennon, Jon Anderson, and so many more. I think I try to take their lead as far as developing my own voice. As to whether or not I have accomplished that feat, I’ll leave it up to you.

The band explores both classic progressive rock and modern elements. How do you balance tradition and innovation in your sound?
That’s great question! The short answer is that I don’t think about it at all. It’s not a conscious thing, really. I write what is in my head, and what’s in my head is a product of all the music and literature I’ve consumed over my lifetime. It comes out the way it comes out because I am ME!
I don’t hear music in my head in 4/4 time, usually. I don’t usually construct parts thinking about what time signature it should be in, either. It just IS. There are plenty of passages in 4/4 on every Little King album, but there are SO MANY OTHER NUMBERS besides 4! Use them all, I say. Again, where I think Prog Rock loses me sometimes is when it sounds forced or for it’s own sake rather than for the sake of the song. That’s when I gravitate more to the vibe of Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and especially The Who. Those dudes weren’t counting, for the most part. They composed what they felt and heard, and that lends itself to a more visceral and kind of authentic feel than much of prog rock does FOR ME. Maybe not everyone agrees with that, but I’m not everyone! It’s rock and roll…with prog touches. Made sense to me back in the day to try and balance that without trying TOO hard. That’s the magic.

For fans who haven’t heard Little King yet, how would you describe the experience of listening to the band live or hearing the album “Lente Viviente”?
Push and pull, give and take, introspection and higher consciousness, and perhaps a willingness to dive a little deeper into the double-meaning of our lives in and out of context. We are social creatures, and we have a duty to mitigate our wants and needs with the greater good. Can music convey that message, that crazy dichotomy of Self and Us? I think it can. I hope our music does that. But if it doesn’t, perhaps you can just sing along and band your head…that’s more than good enough for us.

Photo Credit – Damian Becerra