How Tone Aston Found the Sound of His Own Voice
Tone Aston has worked on some of the largest and most awarded television advertising campaigns in Australia over the last 10 years. And during his career, he has learnt valuable lessons in what it means to provide the world with the perfect backing track.
He started his career in music engineering before discovering the joy of sound design. With a thirst for passion and dedication, he founded Rumble with a few friends. Today he works at fostering Rumble’s creativity and honing his own talents in the music and sound industry.
Tone spoke with LBB’s Casey Martin about the joys of the craft, and what it takes to grow a company.
LBB> First and foremost, what gravitated you towards the world of sound?
Tone> I actually started out pursuing a career in music engineering and really didn’t know that this industry existed, but a job offer from an audio post house changed my direction. I didn’t know it then but I discovered sound design and that allowed me to express myself creatively in other forms of sound. Then in time I found myself loving the craft of sound design, and still today love nothing more than my time sound designing
LBB> What has been the proudest moment in your career?
Tone> The proudest moment in my career was undoubtedly winning two gold at Award 2023. It wasn't just about the recognition for the whole Rumble team that put in the hard work, dedication, and passion. Even after a twenty year career and eleven years of Rumble, there was a certain kind of validation, knowing that our efforts had been acknowledged and celebrated by our peers in the industry. The exciting thing for me was that instead of a feeling of completion, it was fuel for the fire to continue pushing creative boundaries and striving for excellence in everything I do.
LBB> What is a secret about the industry that not everyone knows?
Tone> I’m not sure this is a secret so much as something that people don’t realise. Our clients can quite often be the ones that push you to be great.
For me this started with Cam Blackley, then through a long list of talented creatives that have pushed me to experiment in audio, to always make something new and exciting. The challenges that I’ve had to figure out have continually lifted my skill set higher and higher, and I really believe in my experience that my best mentors were not other sound designers but the creatives and directors that I’ve worked with.
LBB> What is a project that has stayed with you? Why has it stayed, and what did you learn from it?
Tone> ALDI Christmas “Dig in Doug”, I loved this one. Firstly I was able to spend plenty of time with my mate and frequent collaborator Hans Chrristian Berents and director Hamish Rothwell (Good Oil). The film is a beautifully shot telling of an uncle that refuses to get out during a family Christmas cricket match. By far my favourite part of the process was unearthing an acting gem who became the voice of the campaign, Kelton Pell. After an exhaustive casting process it was another actor (David Field) who recommended we try his friend, Kelton. And David couldn’t have been more right. Kelton’s voice felt like he was father time telling a story for the ages.
LBB> What is a piece of advice that was given to you that you continue to carry?
Tone> “If you say it with confidence, they will believe”. To me this is such a simple piece of advice, be confident in your ideas and thoughts and people will believe in you and believe in these ideas and thoughts. When I was a fresh young sound designer, like everyone I could be nervous, and delivering input into a session could be a nerve-wracking moment, “If you say it with confidence they will believe” gave me the confidence to use my voice to speak clearly and easily to the people in the studio with me.
LBB> How do you foster your own creativity?
Tone> First and foremost, always stay curious. I’m constantly looking for new approaches, asking questions like: How can I innovate in sound design? What fresh perspectives can I bring to sound interpretation for different scenes? Additionally, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by some incredible young talent, through our sound design, music and producing teams across both Sydney and Melbourne. Their willingness to continually question conventional work methods inspires me to push the boundaries of creativity in my work.
LBB> How do you foster the creativity of the teams you work with everyday?
Tone> Opportunity, collaboration and advice. I love to give my team the opportunity to work on all kinds of jobs, giving them the chance to creatively grow through testing themselves on sound design or music that will stretch their abilities to a new level. With a large enough team who all have speciality skills, collaboration is a great way to foster creativity through the sharing of different crafts and knowledge, whether it’s a composer sharing some sounds for a sound designer or vice versa. Always being available to share thoughts or help lead a team member to find the answer themselves through experimenting, but also know when to give the shorthand answer that can save time in pressure situations.
LBB> What has been the most challenging part of your career?
Tone> The business of running Rumble, no doubt. While sessions can still throw up some unique audio challenges to navigate through, with my experience I comfortably know we will find an answer. The running of Rumble across Sydney and Melbourne has many challenges, especially while I’m still doing sessions every day, which I love. Having to skill up in the never ending learning curve of being a boss is something I work really hard at, and throughout the eleven years of Rumble I’ve hopefully grown as a person and grown as a leader. But you’d have to check with my team and get their thoughts on that!
