Q&A: Kingston Rossdale Bares All for His Debut Single
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY ANNA CUCIUREAN-ZAPAN ☆
VULNERABLE IN THE VALLEY—When most people meet someone new they tend to keep to themselves, only showing a small sliver of their inner self. Kingston Rossdale is the exact opposite.
Reigning from Socal, Kingston released his first ever single “Right Side of the Moon” on the last day of September, with an EP set to release November 6. He’s new to the music business, but is certainly not a stranger.
Growing up, he was always writing. Whether in a journal or holding an acoustic guitar, writing is what carried him through life. Reminiscent of late 90s/early 2000s rock, Kingston channels his inner emo boy throughout this five track project. A stark juxtaposition of blaring guitar and drums alongside heartfelt lyrics proves this 20 year old is the ultimate lover boy.
Even though it might be his first release, Kingston writes with complete trust and transparency; as if listeners have known him their whole lives.
Talking over Zoom, we spoke about the vulnerability behind living life authentically, taking risks and the joy of attending Renaissance fairs.
LUNA: So, who is Kingston?
KINGSTON ROSSDALE: I am a kid from Los Angeles. I write alternative indie pop music and I'm trying to write music that I can connect people with. I'm super, super excited to share with the world everything I've been working on.
LUNA: How do you think growing up in Southern California shaped your sound and your music?
KINGSTON: Just the way of life is so specific. My songs very much pull from a lot of personal experiences. California is home for me, and a lot of the songs have the theme of nostalgia and home and growing up and my childhood, and that all stems from SoCal.
LUNA: Your sound is very reminiscent of 2000s rock and that era. Who would you say are some of your main musical influences?
KINGSTON: It’s a hard question because I have so many different bands and artists that I listen to. The Smashing Pumpkins are like my everything. I think last year or the year before, I had like 37,000 minutes streamed on Spotify alone of The Pumpkins, which is crazy. I don't know how I had that much time to just listen to them, but I made the time. I love The Cars, Chicago, Steely Dan, Hum, Failure. Of course Phil Collins and Genesis, I love 80s stuff. Recently, I've gotten into a lot more midwest emo, bands like Trash, American Football, Hawthorne Heights, Thoughts on Bowling. Those songs really influenced the EP and my guitar playing and opened up a whole new world of sound for me.
LUNA: I've also tried to get into more musical genres lately, and midwest emo is one of them. I didn't think of myself as someone that would enjoy that, but I'm like, wow, this music is really motivating me to get through my day.
KINGSTON: Hell yeah! I love that. Midwest emo is definitely one of those genres that when you start out listening to it, depending on what bands, it can be a little bit difficult because a lot of people hate on the vocals. But the whole thing is that the vocals are supposed to be raw and you know, feeling that rawness of it all.
LUNA: That's such a good way to describe it, I should tell people that too. I feel like in today's industry, there's been such a resurgence of rock music. What is your take on how the industry has been evolving lately to appreciate more niche music?
KINGSTON: I love it. I think it's super cool. I love seeing artists bring back the 80s and 90s into our modern times. I want to do that myself too, moving forward for sure. It says something about those bands and how special those time eras were. Just the fact that people are still listening to these albums and records and singles 40 years later.
LUNA: Is there anything that surprised you in these beginning stages of becoming an artist?
KINGSTON: How long it takes to release music! I didn't realize there's so much to it. I have all these songs I've written at completely different points in my life. We went in around November 23, 2025 to start recording the EP, and we just re-recorded every single song because I wanted to make it updated and my sound and sonically everything. But like, geez, it's taken a long time. And yes, it's supposed to because you need to get it perfect, but I've been writing since I was 14, so it's been a lot to sit on these songs. I'm beyond excited to release the music, and more than anything, I just want people to connect with it, and I hope that it can play a role in people's everyday lives.
LUNA: What is your writing process like?
KINGSTON: My writing process definitely varies song to song. Typically it starts with me pulling up an acoustic guitar, and I'll find a chord progression that I like, and then I'll hum. I'll just sing something over it at home, sing whatever, and then lyrics will come out, and then I'll try to think about what I want to write, and then the song comes together. Sometimes, depending on where my brain is at that day or that moment, it takes longer. Sometimes it's faster. It's just so situational. Then I'll bring it into the studio, or I'll produce it myself. Just depends.
LUNA: How would you describe this EP as succinctly as possible, like a little synopsis?
KINGSTON: This EP is a glimpse into my life and my experiences as a young adult navigating life. It touches on love and my struggle with anxiety and mental health. I have ADHD, so it touches a lot on how that's my superpower and it's a struggle at the same time. It's pretty much my life encapsulated into this project and that's what a lot of my work is.
LUNA: I love the nostalgic feeling I get while listening to this project, specifically “Louise Street.” What's the meaning behind that song?
KINGSTON: I wrote “Louise Street” in 2023, and it's about growing up. The school that I went to was on Louise Street in the valley, so it’s all about my childhood and falling in love with my girlfriend, and also looking forward to the future and thinking about what amazing things are to come. It’s written in a way where it's supposed to be looking back on everything too, and switching between two perspectives of being in this place where you've got your life set up and everything's happening, but also being in a place where you know that wasn't happening yet, and you were building that. That song is really really special to me.
LUNA: So many of the lyrics seem very romantic and very wistful. How do your relationships with your friends, your family, your loved ones affect your work and what you write?
KINGSTON: It affects it entirely. Everything is based on the experiences I’ve had. For me, writing is when words aren't enough. When I need to write about something happy, sad, exciting, whatever it may be, I go to write a song.
LUNA: It must be such a nice feeling to be able to almost therapize yourself through your own music. Being able to create music is just such a gift, you know what I mean?
KINGSTON: I go to therapy every week, and my therapist has me writing a journal as well. But honestly, that journal has just turned into writing music and being obsessed with writing. And I think anybody can get into writing music, it’s just getting over that hump of being your own biggest critic. I am always very insecure about the songs that I write, and that they’re not good enough. It’s definitely a struggle, writing, at the same time as it is fun and therapeutic.
LUNA: Therapy twins! Another song that I love is “Letter to Myself.” Do you have a favorite off of the project?
KINGSTON: “Louise Street” or “Right Side of the Moon” are my two favorites. I can't choose, it's like having to choose between children. But I think “Right Side of the Moon” today, at least right now.
LUNA: How would you describe the music video for “Right Side of the Moon”?
KINGSTON: I directed the music video with my buddy Roger Artola. I'm obsessed with medieval stuff and knights. I'm a Renaissance fair guy and I love dressing up as a knight so I had all this armor from Amazon, and I just wanted to make a music video that felt like if “Excalibur” was directed by Wes Anderson, and then was also turned into a music video. We recorded all over LA and Topanga and went over to the valley and spots where I grew up. We filmed at the Circus Liquor parking lot because I love that sign, and I'm a big fan of neon signs in general and those colors.
LUNA: Is there any advice you received or something you learned while recording this EP?
KINGSTON: To be honest with you, I just had to have a constant battle with myself of not getting anxious about not being happy with where a song was at because it's a lot. You go in at like 11 a.m. you spend all day trying to get a song to where you want it to be. Then you go home at like 10, and you start thinking on the way home, “Oh that guitar is too rock, and I don't want it to sound this way.” It gets to be a lot of shit built up in my head that when I got home, I was so stressed. I felt like that was the time where I needed to just decompress and be with my girlfriend, and take in a moment outside of music. Learning to manage that anxiety of trying to perfect everything without taking a toll on myself was probably my biggest struggle.
LUNA: When I was listening to this EP, I could already imagine a crowd of people moshing to this at a show, or just throwing this on in the car and driving down the PCH or whatever you California folks do. How do you hope people receive this work and how do you want people to see you as an artist?
KINGSTON: I hope that people can connect with this music the way that I connect with some of my favorite artists. For people to be able to take the songs home, relate to them, play them with their friends and put them on at moments is everything to me. For me, I look back at a memory and every single moment has a song attached to it. I'll think of sometime in summer in 2021, and I'll think of a memory and “1979” by The Pumpkins is attached to that memory. I hope that can happen with these songs for people, and they can just become a staple in people's lives. I hope that people can see me as an artist, as somebody who's just trying to write music, and that's just what I feel like I was supposed to do. I’ve always known I wanted to do something creative, but music is where I’ve found my place. More than anything, I just want people to connect with the songs.
LUNA: What else is in store for you, whether personally or professionally? Where do you want to see yourself over the next few years, or how do you see yourself evolving?
KINGSTON: After this EP comes out, and I'm playing shows, I see myself just continuing to make music. I want to put together an album in the future. I just want to keep putting out music and playing shows and hopefully going on a tour sometime soon, and just continuing to build myself as an artist. Most importantly of all, just making songs that people can connect with.
