CHRISTMAS and other special gatherings in the Toole family are like classic Hallmark moments.
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The close-knit clan on the Central Coast comes together with various musical instruments to play and sing. Children, parents, grandparents - everyone.
Having grown up in such an enriching musical environment, it's not surprising that Little Quirks are catching the ears of indie-folk fans.
Sisters Abbey (guitar), 19, and Mia (drums), 16, and their cousin Jaymi (mandolin), 22, first began performing together as a covers act busking at markets in 2015.
"We grew up with so much music, so it was always bound to happen," Abbey Toole says.
But when they uploaded a video of them performing Dreams by The Cranberries, recorded by Abbey and Mia's father Adam, interest in the family band piqued. Their Dreams video has since attracted more than 198,000 views.
A year later Little Quirks released their debut EP Where We Hide, again recorded by Adam Toole.
It introduced the world to their sweet folk harmonies honed from hours spent jamming at their homes in Narara and Tuggerah to their favourite acts The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons.
It also proved Little Quirks were no cute little teenage family band. Abbey and Jaymi possess real songwriting talent.
A second EP, Suzie Knows, was released in 2017, but it was the single Crumbled that firmly launched Little Quirks last year. The track featured on two Spotify-made playlists and has attracted more than 2 million streams.
Their grandparents are understandably rapt, and Jaymi laughs they even, "woke up at 5am to hear some release, even though it came out at 9."
Little Quirks' burgeoning career was becoming so hectic in 2018 that Abbey chose to split year 12 over two years. She'll complete her final two subjects this spring in between their east coast tour.
Mia is in year 10 and Jaymi is in the third year of a Fine Arts Secondary Teaching degree at the University of Newcastle. Jaymi's brother Alex, 24, who has become Little Quirks' bass guitarist in the past year, is a high school music teacher.
"Everyone in the whole family is really involved in it, which is cool for us," Abbey says.
Last week Little Quirks released their latest single Life Wouldn't Be. It marked a number of firsts. Abbey debuted electric guitar on the track and it was the first time the band ventured outside the family to record the song and its video.
"We worked with Wayne Connolly (Boy & Bear, Cloud Control, All Our Exes Live In Texas), the producer, which was fun because we haven't worked with an outside force before," Jaymi says.
"Usually it's been Abbey's dad who's recorded our stuff before. So it was more of an experimental process and we're definitely progressing."
Little Quirks perform at Dashville Skyline in Lower Belford October 5.
