Biography

Started as Mike Shirley-Donnelly’s ill-advised solo project mashing fuzzy guitar rock, orchestral instrumentation and the sounds of 80’s and 90’s video game hardware, Curious Quail has evolved into more of a musician collective than a band proper with contributing members spanning the west coast of the United States from the deserts of the Coachella Valley to the Bay Area and even the Pacific Northwest. Their missions has remained one of writing music that showcases an ongoing storyline told through lyrics and musical motifs while over engineering every technical decision from “how can we add more violin” to “yes the Gameboy needs an overdrive pedal”. Available releases consist of the solo debut The GLOW EP (2009), the first record with live members .:INSTANT GRATIFICATION:. (2012), the Kickstarter Funded opus After The Lights Failed (2014), a summer single Rallying Cry (2015), and the year-long songwriting exercise featuring randomized restrictions, deadlines and mandatory video performances entitled Twelve Months which was released on February 12th, 2019.  The group has toured the west coast, performed at festivals such as CBS Radio's BFD, 8BitLA's FREQUENCY Festival series, and performed on the main stage at MAGFest in National Harbor, Maryland. Their music has been profiled on CMJ, NPR Music, The Bay Bridged and more.