Tones And I has given fans plenty to be excited about, revealing some of her highlights of the past year, and what’s in store for 2020 while co-hosting with Nova 919’s Ben & Liam.
While Tones And I has been a massive chart success both in Australia and abroad, the Victorian musician has kept relatively quiet about the personal milestones she’s managed to achieve, instead allowing her music to speak for her.
Though Toni Watson revealed during her recent Laneway Festival performances that her success brought her over to Los Angeles (which inspired the song “You’re So Cool”), her appearance as a co-host alongside Nova 919’s Ben & Liam today gave fans an insight into the other massive achievements she has managed to tick off her bucket list.
Just last week, Tones was featured as one of the Aussie artists on the local edition of Elton John’s Rocket Hour radio program. During her discussion with Ben & Liam, Tones explained how she was able to turn the iconic musician onto some amazing local talent during their time spent together.
“Elton John is so cool, he’s actually a big fan of Australian music and just new music in general which is really cool to know about him,” she explained.
“I also got to show him Adrian Eagle’s music which was the best thing ever, and then he played Adrian Eagle and now he’s talking about Adrian Eagle on the show, he loved it.”
Despite Elton John undoubtedly being one of the biggest name’s she’s been associated with, Tones explained that it was actually a secret meeting with US musician Khalid that served as her most surreal moment.
“I actually went and had a private lunch with Khalid when he was here, we met at the ARIAs backstage,” she explained.
“I went and had secret lunch, we talked probably about music and stuff for about half an hour and the rest, we were just like, his friend and my friends we were just talking the whole time, got along, we didn’t want to get a photo.
“We’ve made plans to maybe meet up and meet his dog and see if anything happens in the studio. It wasn’t a social media thing, it was just a really, really nice time, he’s a great person, that was a spin out.”
Looking ahead to 2020 though, Tones admitted the chances of topping such an amazing year feel slim, but with new music, a new tour, and a guest performance during an NBA game are set to serve as some massive highlights.
“No one knows this, but I just got told that on the 14th of April I’m playing the half time show at Lakers game, with the Lakers V Warriors,” she explained. “It’s a big game apparently so I need to follow this a little closer.”
In regards to her touring plans, Tones explained that she’s aiming to use her position as a major artist to give back to those who need the support the most.
“I want to do this whole big anti-bullying tour,” she explained. “So I’ll be back for a tour soon which I will announce next week, and then during the night times I will be playing my shows, like your normal tour shows, but during the day times I’m going around to high schools to play there.
“We’re just doing it free of charge and we haven’t announced that yet, but it’ll be high schools that are working towards a better quality of socialism in a school.
“So they do anti-bullying essays about how their school has worked towards anti bullying and to teach people it’s not okay and to open up and then we’re going pick the schools based on those essays and then we’re going to go around with the guys – like Adrian Eagle, Jakubi – and do shows at these schools and promote anti-bullying.”
Closing out her guest spot with Ben & Liam, Tones also discussed the release of new music, stating “I think there will be a song in the next two weeks and then randomly another song the week after.”
When pressed about whether “You’re So Cool” might make the cut, she noted it still needs to be finalised, meaning it’ll likely serve as her third song to be released in the coming weeks or months.
