Double-up on musical talent

Twins Ryan and Dan look and sing like angels and the brothers, the first identical twins to have a Top 10 hit in the UK, are planning an all-out assault on the Australian charts.
Known as RyanDan, the brothers are not strangers to the music industry. The youngest of five children, the boys were guided by their father who is a trained opera singer and have drawn on their experience as part of a platinum-selling boy band to hone their musical skills.
Their self-titled debut album is something akin to a musical biography, with each song on the CD specifically drawn to reflect certain times in the pair’s lives. As well as a swag of original material, there are four specially chosen cover versions including The Prayer and Wind Beneath My Wings.
“The Prayer was the first song we recorded,” Ryan told SSO. “My mother has Parkinson’s Disease and we found out while we were touring Germany. We flew straight back to spend time with her.
“After a few months she felt guilty about this and said, ‘You have to go back to your music,’ so we did and recorded her favourite song, which happens to be The Prayer.”
The twins recorded more than 50 songs for the album, before culling it back to the eventual 12 tracks. Ryan said the process of elimination was a difficult one.
But, he said, the final material – including the original tracks The Face, which was written by Stephan Moccio, and the soulful Tears of an Angel – were reflective of the album the brothers wanted to make.
“Being identical twins, The Face was a pretty nice song for us to have,” he said. “But Tears of an Angel is a special song. We were just signed with Universal Music and we found out our niece had a malignant brain tumour and we wrote this song about her.
“She passed away a few weeks ago and it’s sad, but we will always have this song to remember her by.”
The debut single Like The Sun was recorded with a 62-piece orchestra and a children’s choir.
“It can be taken in many ways, but it’s basically about a loving relationship – be it a partner, girlfriend, sister or anyone,” Ryan said.
Just like their looks, the boys have identical voices so they can switch singing parts with ease. Their ranges stretch from tenor to baritone, with the odd falsetto thrown in for good measure.
info: www.ryandan.com