Adam and the Amethysts was a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band formed in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 2004. The band was fronted by Adam Waito, a former member of

Miracle Fortress Miracle Fortress is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band's studio work is primarily a solo, project of songwriter Graham Van Pelt, who is accompanied by the rest of the band during live shows. Band history Van Pelt, a m ...

. The band released two albums and toured mostly around North America.

History

Waito was born in

Manitouwadge Manitouwadge is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the Thunder Bay District, at the north end of Highway 614, east of Thunder Bay and north-west of Sault Ste. Marie. History Manitouwadge (''Manidoowaazh'' in O ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, raised in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

and moved to

in the early 2000s. He co-founded Telefauna in 2004, an indie-pop band whose that played the

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 venues across the city, most ...

festival three times. They released ''Their 1st EP'' in 2005 and a single "Under the Underground Water" b/w "Bamboo Shoot" in 2007. Waito launched ''Adam and the Amethysts'' with the release of ''Amethyst Amulet'' on June 10, 2008, on Pome Records. The album was an ode to Waito's home town, referencing 60s pop and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

. For this album, it was reported that guest artists included members of Telefauna and

The Luyas The Luyas are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The Luyas did their first live performance in December 2006. Their first album, ''Faker Death'' came out in August 2007, and was re-released in Januar ...

, but they are not credited. After the release of ''Amethyst Amulet'' the band underwent some lineup changes while continuing to play festivals like

, and

Halifax Pop Explosion The Halifax Pop Explosion was a music festival and conference that occurred every fall, typically two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The term "Halifax Pop Explosion" also came to be adopted in the 1990s as the name o ...

. They also opened for

Land of Talk Land of Talk is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2006 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is led by singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell. History Before becoming the front-person for Land of Talk, Elizabeth Powell began her career as a ...

. The band's second album, ''Flickering Flashlight'', was released on 4 October 2011, on

Kelp Records Kelp Records is a Canadian record label based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in March 1994 by Jon Bartlett in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The record label has worked with a number of Canadian artists, including Andrew Vincent, The A ...

. The song "Prophecy" from this album was featured on the soundtrack of ''

Curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

'', which won the 2012

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

. The band, now a trio, went on a short Canadian tour. In 2012, they played

Canadian Music Week Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada. History Canadian Music Week began in 1981 and has grown to become one of Canada's largest and most influential media a ...

and the

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival in Texas. In 2013 Lessard and Waito formed the duo Silverkeys. In 2014 Waito joined Ohara Hale and Jeremy MacCuish to form the trio Nancy Pants. In 2013, the Adam and the Amethysts song "Dreaming" appeared in the film ''What If''.

Discography

* 2008: ''Amethyst Amulet'' (

Pome In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince. Etymology The word ''pome'' entered English in the late 14th century, and re ...

) * 2011: ''Flickering Flashlight'' (

Kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwat ...

)

References

Citations

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2012 Musical groups from Montreal Canadian indie rock groups English-language musical groups from Quebec 2004 establishments in Quebec 2012 disestablishments in Quebec