In the fickle world that is the pop music business, it is rare for artists to succeed after changing their sound and image as radically as Toronto identical twins Ryan and Dan Kowarsky. They formerly comprised two-thirds of the trio B4-4, a group that achieved moderate success here before the brothers tired of the “boy band” straitjacket in which they were placed.

“We got very frustrated with doing the pop thing,” recalls Ryan. “We were playing for very young audiences. Their focus was very much on our hair, our image, our style. We’d get up onstage and sing something we were very passionate about and not necessarily get the response we were hoping for. It would be ‘you have a nice jacket,’ as opposed to anything about our voices.”

The pair have re-emerged as RyanDan, a vocal duo with a sound that fits the pop meets classical crossover style of the likes of Il Divo and Andrea Bocelli. The reinvention has paid off bigtime, as their self-titled debut album has achieved international success on a scale far beyond anything achieved by B4-4.

It came out last year, and quickly soared up the U.K. album charts, peaking at No. 7 and racking up gold sales. Similar success followed in Europe, Australia and, finally, Canada, where it reached both the Top 10 and the gold sales level.
Last month it received a much-coveted release in the U.S., on Decca/Universal, and there’ll be plenty of appearances for the duo there. In fact, we chatted with the twins just prior to a performance in Orlando, alongside a fellow siblings group, The Osmonds.

Given that they have identical-sounding voices and often finish each other’s sentences, it’s difficult in a phone interview to identify the speaker. “Just take a guess if you want to quote us,” jokingly reassures one of the twins.
When asked to define the RyanDan sound, Ryan answers “classy pop. We have a big orchestra behind us, but we have our pop melodies mixed in. It has seemed very natural to get into the kind of music we are doing right now. We come from a very musical background. Our father is an opera singer, so we were always around voices, orchestras and choirs. We are so happy about the music we are doing now.”They received the big-budget treatment for the recording of their album, produced by Steve Anderson (Paul McCartney, Kylie Minogue) at London’s State Of The Ark Studios. A choir and 62 piece orchestra was employed, and RyanDan loved the experience. “We had never recorded in that format before. When we heard the orchestra practising on one of our songs, we said ‘why do you need our voices on this?’ It was just so beautiful on its own. And to be able to get onstage with a beautiful big orchestra, there is nothing like it. You really get the emotion of every single person playing in the orchestra, together with us. It is one big energy that goes out to the audience.”

They also relished using recording equipment drenched in music history. “The microphone we used for our vocals on the album was used by Frank Sinatra,” Dan recalls. “That was a very surreal experience. The mixing desk had been used by the Beatles and Rolling Stones. There’s a very rich warm sound that you get from the old analog equipment compared to the digital technology.”

Toronto songwriter Stephan Moccio (Celine Dion, Sarah Brightman) contributed one tune on RyanDan, “The Face,” and he has been in further writing sessions with the duo. RyanDan did co-write one song, “Tears Of An Angel,” a collaboration with another pair of Torontonians, Steve MacKinnon and Amy Sky. It’s a poignant tribute to the Kowarsky’s young niece, who fell victim to a brain tumour last year. “That was very emotional for us,” says Dan.
The brothers have been writing more songs with others, Ryan explains. “That is important to us, but this was always about creating an album where we can be proud of every single song on there. If we didn’t write a song, so be it. We weren’t forcing it, as it has to happen naturally.”

In their short career as RyanDan, they’ve already notched some major highlights.

“We’ve had some incredible moments, like performing at the Sydney Opera House and with Andrea Bocelli in Denmark,” says Dan. “Then, at the Air Canada Centre in February, we shared the stage with Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Josh Groban and Sarah McLachlan at the One Night Live benefit gala. While we were singing there, Ryan and I looked at each other and thought ‘well, here we are.’”

RyanDan is out on Universal Music Canada. RyanDan play The Danforth Music Hall on June 20.

Source: Tandem