[1] Tonks cites Sia, Jeff Buckley and Michael Jackson as his main musical influences.
Tonks attended the pre-auditions for the second series of New Zealand reality show The X Factor in Christchurch in November 2014 and advanced through to the judges' auditions.
Tonks performed the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" at his audition and received positive feedback from all four judges who advanced him through to bootcamp.
He sang "Grenade" in the final showdown against Lili Bayliss and was saved by the judges with only Stan Walker voting to send him home.
Tonks was eliminated in the final showdown with Brendon Thomas and the Vibes, and only mentor Natalie Bassingthwaighte voting to keep him.