Tones and I

Toni Watson grew up in Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.[3][4] Conflicting reports stated she was born in 1993, or in 2000.[5] The artist prefers not to disclose her birth details, "I never denied my age. I never lied about it. I just don't say anything now... Everything is wrong online."[6]

She explained choosing a music career: "One day I was at the park with my family, all my cousins and stuff, in Frankston... We were all just singing a song and my aunty was like 'oh guys, she can actually hold a note.' I think that's the earliest memory of someone actually pointing me out as someone that has an ability to sing. I was probably like 7 years old."[7] The singer-songwriter had learned to play keyboards and drum pads while at secondary school.[7] She started busking in Melbourne and also worked in a fashion retail shop, Universal Store.[3][4][8]

In 2009, as Toni Watson, she created a YouTube page and posted a cappella cover versions.[5] She performed local gigs and festivals, including the Let Go festival.[3] Tones was the vocalist for a duo in 2014,[3] and remembered: "I started out singing in small pubs and bars in Mornington, I was singing along to a guitarist until I ended up branching out on my own."[9] She explained her shift to a solo career: "I actually got made redundant from my retail job and with that money I bought an RC300 (loop station) and just started to try figure it all out."[7] She busked "up and down the east coast with her synthesisers and loop pedal, she has been building a loyal fanbase and captivating crowds with her genre-diverse style."[3]

In September 2017, the singer-songwriter travelled to Byron Bay to try busking there.[7][10] At an early performance, she met Jackson Walkden-Brown who became one of her talent managers about a month later.[7][10][11] Her busking success led to a greater commitment to a music career. The artist spent 2018 living between Walkden-Brown's home in the Gold Coast hinterland and in her van in Byron Bay, writing music and busking full-time.[8][10] Later that year she won the Battle of the Buskers at Buskers by the Creek.[7][12]

In February 2019, Tones and I signed with Bad Batch Records/Sony Music Australia and a co-management deal with Artists Only (owned by Walkden-Brown, ex-Aerials) and Lemon Tree Music (co-owned by Regan Lethbridge and David Morgan, both ex-Bonjah).[8][13][14] In that month she uploaded her debut single, "Johnny Run Away", to an Australian website, Unearthed, which publishes the music of unsigned artists.[15] The track was recorded with Australian producer, Konstantin Kersting.[16] AllMusic's Fred Thomas observed, "[it] became a viral sensation, racking up streams."[17]

"Johnny Run Away" was added to full rotation on Australian alternative radio station Triple J the following week and received high ratings from staff: Richard Kingsmill (four-and-a-half out of five stars), Tommy Faith (five stars) and Declan Byrne (four-and-a-half stars).[7][18] Natalie O'Driscoll of Blank Gold Coast described the track, "a melodic slice of Nordic-inspired electro-pop that tells a very important story."[12] Two weeks later, Tones and I officially released "Johnny Run Away".[15] It peaked at number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and achieved triple platinum status for shipments of over 210,000 units.[19][20]

On 10 May 2019, Tones and I released her second single, "Dance Monkey".[21] She recalled the track was "Written alone in a dark closet in not much more than 30 minutes."[10] Craig Mathieson of The Age felt, "It's pop writ large – catchy yet familiar, slightly ludicrous yet genuinely affecting."[22] It reached number one on the official music charts of over 30 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[23][24][25]

"Dance Monkey"'s music video was directed by Liam Kelly and Nick Kozakis.[26] In Australia, in November of that year, she broke the record for the most weeks atop the ARIA Singles Chart by any artist, with 16 weeks. This was previously held by Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" (15 weeks in 2017).[24] By mid-January 2020, "Dance Monkey" had spent 24 weeks at number one.[27] It was the first Australian song to reach number one on Spotify's global daily top 200 streaming chart.[28] On 8 February 2020, it equalled Post Malone's "Rockstar" for the most days at number one on the same chart.[29] As of 18 February 2020, "Dance Monkey" returned to the Spotify top spot and had spent 120 days at number one.[30]

In May 2019, Tones performed at the Big Pineapple Music Festival, as well as opening Splendour in the Grass 2019 as the Triple J Unearthed Splendour in the Grass competition winner,[31] where she broke the record for the biggest crowd of an opening set.[32][33] In July, she released a third single, "Never Seen the Rain", and announced the release of her debut six-track extended play, The Kids Are Coming (30 August 2019).[34] In September 2019, Tones and I performed "Dance Monkey" and "The Kids Are Coming" at the 2019 AFL Grand Final with 100,000 people in attendance.[35][36] In January 2020, three of the EP's tracks were listed on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2019: "Dance Monkey" (No. 4), "Never Seen the Rain" (No. 15) and "Johnny Run Away" (No. 26).[37]

On 1 February 2020 she started her Kids Are Coming World Tour with five Laneway Festival dates in Australia and seven dates in North America.[38][39] Riff Magazine's Rachel Goodman caught her performance in San Francisco in mid-month, "[she] brought a palpable energy to the stage, which concertgoers enthusiastically reciprocated... [and] spoke about busking every day on the streets of Byron Bay in Australia and how she learned to communicate with audiences—and quickly capture people's attention."[40]

A total of 52 dates (including another eight in North America) were announced for the tour through to July.[38][39] However, due to the coronavirus in Australia local tour dates were rescheduled to September and October 2020.[41] Likewise, the artist curtailed her European performances, "I must cut short the rest of my first tour over here, as the majority of the remaining shows have already been cancelled due to government policy and I do not want to subjugate anyone to making a choice between coming to see me and their health."[42]

On 7 May 2020 Triple J premiered a new song, "We Can’t Wait to Go Back to a Festival When This Is Over", as part of a COVID-19 self-isolation musical challenge, Quarantune.[43] On 20 May "Dance Monkey" reached 1 billion views on YouTube.[44] Also in that month the artist appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone (Australia) and was interviewed by its editor, Poppy Reid.[45][46] Reid had seen her at the Laneway Festival in February, "there's a manic energy and excitement surrounding her at all times... [she] offers a new blueprint for future generations... the possibility of a global career built out of regional Australia, sans a major label... and without a stack of co-writers."[6]

• Official website
• "Lyric Finder / ChatBot".