Rehoboth musicians head to old El Paso
El Paso would seem an odd locale for a pair of Rehoboth Beach musicians to record an album. But for Ryan Rosoff and Manny Tejeda, there was no other place they’d rather be.
“This is the place I’ve recorded my whole life,” Rosoff said. “I always come to El Paso to work. Old habits die hard.”
Rosoff and Tejeda have joined forces with El Paso-based producer and musician Eddy Garcia for the sixth album of Rosoff’s band, Little King. The group has gone through numerous lineups since its formation in 1996, with Rosoff being the only constant member.
Garcia and Rosoff have worked together since 2003, when the two were a part of the El Paso music scene, which is most notable for once including the band Foss, featuring future presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, founder of the bands At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta.
With Rosoff on guitar and Garcia on drums, the group is rounded out by Tejeda, a native of the Dominican Republic who plays with the Rehoboth group Tyler Greene and Friends, in addition to solo shows under the name Manny Live. The two met in Rehoboth, where Rosoff has been living since 2014.
Little King has mixed a power pop sense of melody with progressive instrumentation. But Rosoff said the new record, “Occam’s Foil,” will have a heavier style - thanks in part to the influence of Garcia, who has been playing for years in metal bands around El Paso. Garcia also worked with industrial legends Ministry and served a recent stint as the touring drummer for long-running New Jersey thrash group Overkill.
Rosoff said the title is a play on the concept of Occam’s Razor, which posits that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. He said Occam’s Foil is the reverse of that concept, and he wanted to explore through music how that relates to relationships, politics and work.
Rosoff said no release date is set yet, but he hopes the album, which will have five or six songs, will be ready by October.
This would be Little King’s first release in five years, and one thread all the group’s albums have is some reference to Rosoff’s beloved Oakland Raiders. When asked if there will be a Raiders song on this record, he laughed and said, “I cannot confirm or deny there will be any Raiders songs.”
