[2][3] Johnston grew up on a dairy farm in a small rural town in New South Wales before moving to Sydney to enroll in a music production school.

[4] Speaking in an interview, he said "I grew up on this massive dairy farm with 2,000 to 3,000 cows, and we would milk them every morning and afternoon.

[5] He previously used a number of stage names while growing up such as Dirty-D, Bassics, Tommy and Tom Foolery but they were never used professionally.

Inspired by deep house as well as acoustic rock and jam bands, his tracks heavily feature live instruments, particularly saxophone, flute, piano, and guitar, and generally have a relaxed, sunny, uplifting feel.

He became well known across EDM websites for his original tracks such as "Symphony" and "The Final Speech" as well as his remixes of popular artists such as Of Monsters & Men and OneRepublic and house producers like Adrian Lux.

[1] His busy touring schedule brought him to clubs around the globe, causing Johnston to refer to himself as "homeless" but he has spent a considerable amount of time in the United States, particularly in Florida.

After devoting much of 2014 to remixes (including his take on Gabriel Rios' "Gold") and live gigs, he released a new single, "Rivers".

[1] In August 2015, Johnston went on the We Are Your Friends movie tour along with several other artists such as Hook n Sling, MAKJ, SNBRN, Anna Lunoe and Michael Woods.

[8] On 30 October 2015, Johnston released his debut single "Rivers" featuring Norwegian singers Nico & Vinz.

[10] When asked about his plans on launching a tropical house record label, Johnston said "Maybe, but I'm trying to figure out what music I want to make still.

[14] He began using the term "tropical house" somewhat jokingly, but it stuck, and international producers such as Kygo and Klingande soon became associated with the subgenre.