After meeting at "Rock Commune," Ritsumeikan University's music club, Shigeru Kishida, Masashi Sat?, and Nobuyuki Mori formed the original three-piece band. The name "Quruli," an onomatopoeic word expressing rotation, was taken from a sign in the Kyoto Municipal Subway. In October 1998 Quruli released the single "Tokyo" on Victor Entertainment. They released their first major label album, Sayonara Stranger in 1999.