Mike Adams at His Honest Weight

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, singer, songwriter, and local TV talk show host Mike Adams creates a warm world of lush, self-effacing power pop with his musical vehicle Mike Adams at His Honest Weight. Adams crafts graceful and satisfying melodies with influences ranging from Brian Wilson and the Association to Electric Light Orchestra, Teenage Fanclub, and Third-era Big Star, and he has a grasp on studio technique that gives his material the suitable amount of gloss. Adams first made his mark with the simple but resourceful sound of 2011's Oscillate Wisely (he added some additional polish with a 10th Anniversary remix in 2021) and found room for more studio experimentation on 2015's Best of Boiler Room Classics. 2016's Casino Drone added a more refined production approach, and he matched lush, keyboard-driven arrangements with a more personal outlook on 2023's Guess for Thrills. Prior to launching Mike Adams at His Honest Weight, Adams spent the better part of a decade fronting Midwestern indie pop outfit Husband & Wife, who played their final show in April 2013. Honest Weight, however, was conceived more along the lines of a solo project, with Adams writing all of the songs, then collaborating with a hand-picked cast of local musicians. His first LP, Oscillate Wisely, arrived in early 2011 as a split release between Flannelgraph and St. Ives Records. It introduced his core sound, which balanced sophisticated pop arrangements with the unpretentious goofball image Adams presented on his witty cable access TV show. The midwestern Renaissance man continued to balance his two main projects, landing higher-profile guests on his show while recording his follow-up LP, 2014's Best of Boiler Room Classics. For his third release, 2016's Casino Drone, Adams signed to Indianapolis-based indie Joyful Noise; he played all the instruments on the sessions, with Adam Jessup serving as co-producer. Adams and Jessup teamed up once again for 2019's There Is No Feeling Better, with Adams joined in the studio by a handful of instrumentalists and vocalists who helped him craft his most polished work to date. In 2021, Adams celebrated the tenth anniversary of his debut album with a deluxe edition of Oscillate Wisely. In addition to a remastered version of the original album, the package included a new mix of the full ten-song LP; a special limited edition of the deluxe release also included a set of rare live recordings. For 2022's Graphic Blandishment, Adams and his studio band generated a more rock-oriented sound, with a greater emphasis on guitars and drums and incorporating more outside musicians without betraying his melodic sensibilities. This livelier sound gave way to a sophisticated approach on 2023's Guess for Thrills; Adams returned to playing nearly all the parts himself, and the smart, keyboard-led arrangements were paired with a production that made room for found sounds and atmospheric soundscapes.
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