'I Thought When It Reached #10 It Would Decline': Not Even Tones & I Saw Her Global Hit Coming

Following Tones & I's three sold-out shows at Corner Hotel last month, Toni Watson, the genius behind the moniker, stayed put in Melbourne to prepare for her AFL Grand Final performance. She probably would have laughed if someone told her a year ago she'd be performing at the MCG. "I couldn’t get tickets to the AFL Grand Final last year so this a different experience one year later," she says. 

Watson performed two songs, Dance Monkey and the title track from her debut EP The Kids Are Coming, as part of the AFL Grand Final's all-Australian pre-game entertainment, which also featured Paul Kelly, Dean Lewis, John Williamson, Conrad Sewell and (of course) Mike Brady. So how did she prepare herself to perform in front of the MCG's 100,000-strong crowd (plus the game's large television audience)? "I prepare by focusing on me and being happy," she says.  

At the time of print, the 19-year-old artist's smash hit Dance Monkey retained pole position on the ARIA Singles Chart for a ninth consecutive week, equaling the record – also held by Justice Crew (Que Sera) – for longest stint at the top of the chart by an Australian act. Of Dance Monkey's continued chart domination, Watson marvels, "I honestly thought that when it reached ten on the ARIA Chart it would decline. I never thought this would happen!"

Dance Monkey is the first homegrown chart-topper of 2019 and has also peaked at #1 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland (so far). 

"I honestly thought that when it reached ten on the ARIA Chart it would decline. I never thought this would happen!"

In February 2019, Watson uploaded her debut single Johnny Run Away to triple j Unearthed. Within 12 hours, the song was added to triple j. During her live shows, Watson likes to tell a story about how her co-manager David Morgan (Lemon Tree Music) warned her to prepare herself for the possibility that Dance Monkey may not perform as well as Johnny Run Away (which peaked at #12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and is certified double Platinum). "I love to call him out during my set and he has a good laugh about it," she says. 

After chucking in her retail job to move to Byron Bay and busk, Watson lived in her white 1981 Mazda E2000 van while honing her craft. "I slept on a foam mattress that was not very big so I slept diagonally," she says. 

The most she made busking on a single day, Watson says was "enough to eat, put fuel in my car and be happy. Life’s not about money". 

It was actually during her very first Byron Bay busking stint that another of her co-managers, Jackson Walkden-Brown (Artists Only founder/owner), handed Watson his business card and suggested she should give him a call. "I thought he was bullshitting me like most people that say, 'I know a guy that knows a guy that met a guy, blah blah,'” she recalls. "I didn’t take him seriously at all." 

Given that Watson was more accustomed to performing in small spaces while busking, she had to learn how to move around the stage. "I still can’t dance, but I have a good time," she says.

On top of her showcases at BIGSOUND 2019, Watson also masterminded a silent protest in Brisbane's Brunswick Street Mall. When asked how she brought her creative vision to life, Watson explains, "I hired amazing young actors to stand in the middle of the mall two hours before my performance. I wanted to make it a peaceful protest that also made people feel uncomfortable viewing it." 

These young actors – clad head to toe in The Kids Are Coming merch and all wearing ghoulish makeup – brandished banners emblazoned with slogans such as "Can You See Us?" and "No One Wants To Listen To The Kids", delivering Tones & I's message loud and clear without uttering a single word.

At Tones & I's first BIGSOUND showcase at Famous Nightclub, Watson shared a comment from some random bloke online, claiming she seems like "a pissed-off chick that hates bullies". "I’m not a pissed-off chick," Watson laughs before stressing, "but I do hate bullies... Like anyone in the public eye, I’ve been bullied online. There has been two occasions where I have reached out to a bully online and told them, ‘Hey, I’m not sure what you are going through, but you don’t need to say things like that. I am a real person and I wish you nothing but love’... I don’t think they realised I’m a real person." 

In both of these instances, Watson says the cyberbullies apologised after admitting they didn't realise she would actually see their comments. Watson advises victims of bullying "to surround [themselves] with good people and respond with love".

Another memorable moment from the aforementioned showcase saw Watson gifting her own The Kids Are Coming-themed trainers to a fan who caught her attention, asking whether he could have her kicks. After she handed them over, Watson concluded her set in socked feet. Did she have to walk back to the hotel wearing just socks? Watson chuckles, "I randomly had some shoes backstage that some of the actors didn’t end up wearing."