Little Quirks

Little Quirks were formed in 2015 in Gosford on the Central Coast, New South Wales by Abbey Toole (15 years-old) on guitar and lead vocals, her sister Mia Toole (11 years-old) on drums and vocals, and their cousin, Jaymi Toole (17 years-old) on mandolin and vocals.[1] They started busking at food markets by playing cover versions of tracks by the Cranberries, Of Monsters and Men, and Vance Joy.[2] The band were named by one of their parents, Abbey recalled, "We have always been very quirky kids and have our own little ways we do things."[3] The band members' fathers had performed together in groups including Adam's Apple and in Sugarmoth.[2]

Little Quirks issued their first extended play, Where We Hide, in 2016.[4] It was produced by Abbey and Mia's father Adam Toole.[1] Their early influences were The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons.[1][5] The trio toured in support of Jack River, Xavier Rudd and Alex the Astronaut.[6] Their second EP, Suzie Knows, appeared in 2017.[7][8] In November of the following year they toured Western Australia.[7] In 2019 their track, "Cover My Eyes", co-written by the trio, was a semi-finalist in two categories at the International Songwriting Competition: Americana and Folk, Singer-Songwriter.[9] The group performed at the National Folk Festival in Easter 2019 in Canberra.[8] Abbey described their music, "Folk is for all ages. It's one of the rawest and most real styles of music, where you can hear very personal stories you can relate to in songs. There's just something different about folk that we know other young people will love if they give it a chance."[10]

Jaymi's older brother, Alex Toole (24 years-old), joined on bass guitar during 2019.[1][11] He is also a secondary school music teacher.[1] In January 2020 they issued another EP, Cover My Eyes, and started their tour of east coast venues.[4][12][13] It was produced at Hercules Studios by Wayne Connolly for Ditto Music.[13][14] Women in Pop's Jess Richards felt, "[it] is a beguiling collection of five alt-folk tracks."[15] Rod Yates of The Sydney Morning Herald observed, "Underneath the pastoral harmonies, lilting alt-folk and spirited singalongs lie some dark lyrical themes, particularly in the title track and its musings on mental health."[2]