Welcome back to the Underground.
As we continue breaking down the core elements of the collective that brought Architects and Wanderers to life, we have to look at the engine room. Up next is the rhythmic heartbeat of the band: Dave Edins, our master of drums and percussion.
When you are dealing with music that fluctuates between dense electronic programming and chaotic, raw rock energy, you need a timekeeper who is both a machine and a maniac. Dave sits precisely in that intersection. He provides the relentless, physical drive that pushes our philosophical explorations out of the academic realm and into the kinetic, sweating reality of a live performance.
From Blueprints to Breakbeats
Dave’s mathematical precision on the kit is rooted in his background as a former architectural draftsperson from Chicago. He spent years meticulously drawing out the structural load-bearing requirements for commercial skyscrapers. When he sits down at the drum kit, he treats the arrangement the exact same way—calculating exactly how much weight and tension a groove can support before the entire song collapses, and then playing right on that breaking point.
The Iron Collector
When Dave isn’t hitting things with sticks, he is usually scouring antique shops and rural flea markets for heavy metal. He is an avid collector and restorer of 19th-century cast-iron cookware. He has a whole setup in his garage dedicated to stripping off decades of rust and re-seasoning ancient skillets and Dutch ovens. There is something beautifully tangible about it—taking an object that is incredibly heavy, historical, and durable, and making it functional again.
Mountain Endurance
Drumming for the Underground requires immense stamina, especially on the blistering Pre-Socratic tracks. Dave builds that endurance through a surprisingly intense hobby: he competes in extreme, off-road mountain unicycling. Navigating steep, rocky inclines on a single wheel requires an insane amount of core balance, hyper-focus, and a complete lack of fear—which is exactly what he brings to the studio when we hand him a chaotic, high-tempo track.
Dave’s Essential Drum & Percussion Tracks
Dave’s playing anchors almost our entire discography, but here are a few critical moments where his kit work dictates the entire direction of the philosophy:
- “Uncreated Sphere” (First Principles): Channeling Parmenides requires an immovable foundation. Dave lays down a massive, relentless drum groove that feels entirely locked in place, refusing to waver or change alongside the heavy drone distortion.
- “I am the Gadfly (Apology)” (From Cosmos to Cave): When Socrates goes on trial, the music needs teeth. Dave delivers an aggressive, punk-infused rhythm section that perfectly matches Arthur’s unapologetic, defiant vocals.
- “The Wax and the Seal” & “Virtue Souffle” (Architects and Wanderers): On our newly released third album, Dave proves he isn’t just a heavy hitter. He steps away from the standard drum kit for highly intricate percussion work. He uses hand drums, shakers, and auxiliary percussion to add a tight, sharp, and highly calculated rhythm to the rigid systems of Aristotelian logic.
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