It was the extraordinary cover version of the classic Cranberries song Dreams that lifted the young folk band Little Quirks from obscurity to national attention. With recognition came modest success with the release of Little Quirks first EP Where We Hide in 2016, followed by a second EP titled Suzie Knows in 2017. But it took their 2018 single Crumbled to firmly launch their burgeoning indie folk career to dizzying heights. Of course, this close-knit family act – sisters Abbey and Mia Toole with their cousin Jaymi Toole – haven’t let success go to their head and have instead continued to hone their songwriting skills and love for performing, especially over this last year. More recently they have released their new single Life Wouldn’t Be, from their forthcoming EP Cover My Eyes, which continues to fuel these humble young women’s dreams of recording music and performing for music lovers worldwide.
Is it still flattering or annoying when you are asked about that You Tube perform of Dreams by The Cranberries? It was a curious choice to announce yourself.
Definitely flattering! Still one of our favourite covers to play. We are big Cranberries fans and love their overall sound so changing up and doing our own version to a song like Dreams was awesome.
How big an influence was the late great Dolores O’Riordan on how you approached music?
Dolores has been a massive influence in our music. The dynamic and unique sound the cranberries capture really stood out to us and we have always tried to apply that and create different sounds when writing our own music, especially her distinct vocal/harmony style. Dolores also stood as this empowered, strong woman which was another big influence we tried to adapt in our image.
What else do you like to listen that might surprise your fans?
Growing up in a very musical, rock orientated family we listened to a broad range of music! Queen, The Beatles, AC/DC, Led zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac to name a few, were always played around the house and have definitely been influential in our own music and our live performance, for we loved how they interacted on stage.
Crumbled was your breakout hit that truly announced you to a wider audience. Can you tell me a little bit about the amazing roller coaster ride you’ve had with its success?
It has been a very humbling experience with Crumbled, from the amount of support and love it has received, we are very thankful. Crumbled really introduced us to the Spotify scene and the benefits of playlists and streaming I think. It also has fortunately led to grasping the attention of many different music festivals and radio stations interstate which was awesome.
Did Crumbled allow you a certain amount of freedom with the projects you are tackling now?
It definitely did allow freedom as well as a path to creating our sound. Crumbled has definitely assisted us in shaping our writing and the direction we want Little Quirks to go. From the exciting stomp of the bass drums and ‘Mumford and sons’ – like energy, we loved playing it live and decided to keep writing more like this, which really has evolved our new upcoming EP. It opened up a new side to our sound and has helped to define our new project majorly.
Your latest single is Life Wouldn’t Be. Can you tell me something surprising about how it came about?
The concept of ‘Life Wouldn’t Be’ was actually written in Jaymi’s car as she drove to work, since she no longer has a radio – it just came naturally for her to start thinking of melodies as entertainment which produced the melody of the verses. Jaymi also keeps a list full of different phrases, concepts or words that she holds onto for lyrics to her melodies which is where she wrote lyrics such as ‘broken heart’, ‘hollow’ and ‘sister’ found in Life Wouldn’t Be.
There’s an undeniably special bond when family members play music and sing together. Do you ever worry about being sick of each other? How do you handle creative differences as a band?
Not really, we love making music together and are really great friends outside of the band and family which really helps in the collaborative environment we work in. We have always tried to keep an open and honest conversation when being creative and there is a lot of trust in each other which we find essential.
Finally, you embark on a short headlining tour soon. What do you enjoy about performing?
We enjoy everything really, the high energy and the adrenaline of performing is pretty incredible.
Playing live is our most favourite part of this experience and getting to meet so many wonderful people at these shows.
Little Quirks latest single Life Wouldn’t Be is from their forthcoming EP Cover My Eyes. For more information on Little Quirks and tour updates check out their website and Facebook page. Follow on Instagram. Watch on You Tube. Listen on Spotify.
For tickets to Little Quirks current tour click HERE.
Friday, 11th October – Oxford Arts Factory Gallery Bar, SYDNEY NSW.
Saturday, 12th October – Junk Bar, BRISBANE QLD.
Saturday, 2nd November – The Espy, MELBOURNE VIC.
Sunday, 3rd November – Lost Lands Festival, VIC.
Rearview Mirror 
I like their sound and their lovely vocal harmonies.
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