A.D.M. Profile

The rock infused hip-hop group Architects Demolition Men consists of a drummer (Matt), Two Lyricists (Toni and D Prophit), a keyboardist (Surya), a synth and saxophone player (Zach) a bassist (Justin), a guitarist (Mike) and a trumpeter (jamal). The musical influence of individual members range from KRS-One to Miles Davis to Pink Floyd, and the racial make up of the group is enough to make David Duke cry in frustration.

With their variety of differences, however, ADM comes together remarkably well. The stereotypical clashing of egos in a large band is absent from their music, as well as from their live performances, which can be described as an impressive display of energy, skill, and an intense love for what they do. That was the sense I got from seeing them perform earlier this year in downtown Brooklyn.

Rather than a sloppy mishmash of genres that plague so many fusion groups, the band members of ADM have created music that actually sounds like KRS-One meets Miles Davis, while at the same time maintaining something unique of their own. Backed by live instruments D shouts his lyrics of resistance to the war on the politically charged Say No : "This is the Election Day and it seems like a mother fucking masquerade/while bombs getting dropped and they blast away arms and legs on little kids half your age."

The intensity of the song went off perfectly - as did their whole performance - but they are quick to point out that they are still growing as a band. Their drummer of two years, Matt describes ADM's first album, Volume 1, as a maturing process. "When we recorded Volume 1 it was a transient project. Nothing was really well grounded. It was like we recorded one track... a song that comes from five years ago... and then there was another [new] song called Changes . So there's a huge leap. There's all sorts of ideas, and all sorts of maturating sounds that are on that album." Jokingly, Toni adds, "On that album we learned what not to do." The point is that they were learning how to come together as a unit. Volume 1 , independently released in 2006, reflects that search for their own unique voice - though from their most recent songs and remixes you might guess that the search was over.

Archiects Demolition Men started as the brainchild of Toni Cortes and contributing producer Mike Foulk. Rhyming since high school Toni put together the name and created the original band members from people he and Mike knew, including D Prophit, who had been Toni's friend since 95. Trumpet player Jamal laughs about his introduction to the band, saying, "I met Toni playing an Afro-Cuban gig where he was working in BK. The cat kept saying 'I got a band I'm trying to put together.' You hear that a lot as a musician, but finally he got me to come to rehearsal... It was such a challenge. It was so far out of my box that I had to get down."

ADM became an attempt by Toni and the others to see if they could create good music that drew from their different points of view. It's taken two years to develop the band's current line up, but in that time they've managed to create that blend they first sought out, as well as refine the creative process that it takes to make it.

I ask the eight-man band about that process. Assuming some complicated answer that involved multiple sessions and a pro-tool like layering of sounds, Toni says, "we play a couple of takes and record the best one." The rest of the band looks at me like an idiot as Justin explains that ideas come from each band member. The others add to it and polish it until it's finished. Indeed, the process might seem almost instinctual to someone from the outside looking in.