Little Quirks chat about the benefits of being in a family band

As we all know, the past couple of years have been incredible difficult for the music industry. So when live music returned Little Quirks were excited to hit the road for their The Rain Is Coming tour, only to be met with a whole new level of stress.

Speaking to City Hub in the midst of the tour Abbey Toole explained how they had to quickly reformat the shows when COVID restrictions were suddenly reintroduced all around the country.

“It has been a very different tour because of COVID… early on we were able to get a few dancy gigs, which are definitely our favourite, but then we had to change things up & make sure it was all about the visual part of the show.”

Whilst being forced to make these changes mid tour was difficult Abbey says it’s still “awesome” to play live shows & absolutely “won’t ever take that for granted.” During the now seated concert events Abbey has also noticed one major change in how the audience absorbs the music, “I see people getting antsy & wanting to dance but I’ve also noticed that they definitely listen much more intently when it is a seated show.”

For audiences to still be so connected to the music & determined to see live performances was another thing which Abbey was very thankful for, “everyone who has come out has been amazing & think that really shows how strong the audience is in supporting live music to try to keep it going during this time.”

As a family band Abbey, her sister Mia & their cousin Jaymi have a special bond which has really helped them grow & evolve as musicians together. As Abbey explained the most beneficial element of the family dynamic has been their openness to criticism from each other, “we’re not afraid to tell each other when ideas suck… There’s an honesty & a trust in what we do.”

You might think this would lead to tension but as Abbey revealed their most heated moments come when choosing outfits for live shows.

“There’s not a lot of juicy gossip unfortunately. Probably the most heated we get is fighting over what outfit we’re going to wear because we like to have matching themes for live shows but we don’t always feel like wearing certain things.”

Looking ahead fans of Little Quirks can expect to see the go from strength in the next year or two. This comes as all three members are focusing 100% on music with Mia finishing high-school last year.

When asked how tough it was for the band to juggle music commitments with Mia’s school commitments Abbey said, “We just had to give Mia support & be as flexible as possible on our part. Mia is super woman, but I definitely felt for her though because a lot of stuff got messed up for both the band & school.”

No that Mia is finished school Abbey said, “it feels really exciting because we’ve kind of been waiting for this moment. Now we can start planning longer tours & tours further from home. We’ll be able to do a lot more things which we weren’t able to do before.”

At the top of that list though is completing their first ever album, a project which now appears to be more achievable than ever.

Jan 28. Waywards,  324 King St, Newtown. Tickets & Info: www.littlequirksband.com