1985-
Instruments
Bands
Local
- The Toy Robots- Guitar, Vocals
- Adam And The Nightmare- Guitar, Vocals
- The Pants- Guitar (01-03)
- Rhythmatic Cartridge
- The V-Necks
- Underflow
Post-Local
Biography
As a teen Adam Waito sang lead vocals and played guitar in Thunder Bay power pop band The Toy Robots. He also played lead guitar in a raunchy punk band called The Pants along with members of Decline and The Christ Punchers. In addition to these groups, while residing in Thunder Bay, Waito released pop, electronic, and folk music under a variety of monikers.
Waito was born in Manitouwadge, Ontario and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario but moved to Montreal in the early 2000s where he would go on to play with Telefauna, Miracle Fortress, and Adam & the Amethysts. He co-founded Telefauna in 2004, an indie-pop band whose influences included Devo, Justin Timberlake and Os Mutantes. Telefauna played the Pop Montreal festival three times, and opened for artists including Cocorosie, Annie and Holy Fuck. After releasing Their 1st EP in 2005 and the Under the Underground Water/Bamboo Shoot single in 2007, Telefauna went on hiatus.
Waito's solo project, Adam and the Amethysts was launched with the release of Amethyst Amulet in 2008. The album is an ode to Thunder Bay, referencing 60s pop, Neil Young as well as contemporary indie rock. First released by Pome Records, the album was championed by the National Post, Toronto Star and NOW Magazine.
In 2008, the band played the Pop Montreal festival and Sackville, New Brunswick's Sappy Fest.
In 2011 Adam & the Amethysts released their second album Flickering Flashlight on Kelp Records. Following its release, Waito and his band toured all over Canada and the United States, including stops on both coasts and at festivals like South by Southwest, NYC Popfest, CMW, Halifax Pop Explosion, Ottawa Jazz Fest and a headlining showcase at Pop Montreal. They were shortlisted for a Quebec Independent Music Award (GAMIQ) for Best Folk Album and performed on Canada's most prestigious arts and entertainment radio show CBC's Q. One of Montreal's weeklies The Hour put their faces on the cover calling Flashlight “the folk rock album of the year.”
Waito joined Miracle Fortress after the release of their first CD, Five Roses and toured internationally as their keyboard player between 2007 and 2009.