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Saturday, September 1, 2007
Single of the week ~ RyanDan, Like The Sun:
INTERVIEW WITH RYANDAN:
“RyanDan…are the talk of the industry and are going to be international superstars…These are voices of astonishing purity, richness, clarity and power.” – The Guardian
“After their
"Their songs are infused with a clear understanding of classical elements of opera music mixed with their distinctive vocal styling that is both soulful and uplifting. Deep baritones are my favourite and they wrap their way around memorable tunes rich in lyrical goodness and gorgeous instrumentation." - Thezapping
Sometimes you can just tell when an act is going to be huge. And mirror image twins Ryan and Dan are just the act to bring a bit of class and an immense amount of talent back to the charts. Blessed with good looks, good dress sense, amazing voices and a team that most artists would die for, the lads are busy preparing for the release of their debut UK single Like The Sun (out on Sept 17th) I was lucky enough to chat with Ryan for a few minutes a couple of weeks ago, and here is what he had to say...
Paul: Hi Ryan, hows it going?
Ryan: Good, it’s all going pretty good at the moment. Touring all over the place with Katherine Jenkins and doing as much promotion as we possibly can. G4 were also on the tour with us and we’ve done some shows with Michael Ball. It’s been a great time, really amazing.
Paul: And how are you finding
Ryan: It’s been fantastic actually. We’ve been travelling around an awful lot and in general the people have been really nice. You know we come from
Paul: I’m glad we’re being hospitable! How are you coping with the weather?!
Ryan: The weather’s been kind of crazy but in
time, so the rain makes a pleasant change.
Paul: So you are used to the extreme conditions then! Maybe just not so much in the summer… Ok, can you tell me a bit about your music and why people should check out your album?
Ryan: Well we’ve been singing since age 4 and we grew up in a very musical family – our father and brother are both opera singers, so we grew up in that environment. We listened to pop as well so our album is sort of a merging of those two styles. The pop melodies are there under these beautiful orchestrations. I think it’s pretty different to anything else out there, but it’s hard to explain what it is. I’m just excited for it to come out. The album is out September 24th and our single comes out September 17th. It’s called Like The Sun. We’ve been able to record the album with a 62 piece orchestra and children’s choir. Amazing experience.
Paul: Didn’t you record in Terry Britten’s studio?
Ryan: Yes, he wrote What’s Love Got To Do With It for Tina Turner and we got to work in that studio and actually record on the microphone that Frank Sinatra used which was really cool. We had such a great time doing it and just hope people really enjoy it.
Paul: Well, it seems the media has really picked up on you – The Guardian, Music Week, and you are tipped for big things in the Christmas chart. Do you feel any pressure because of that?
Ryan: We try not to think of the pressure – at the end of the day you just got to do what you are happy doing and we love what we do. We get to meet so many different people and travel all over the world, do shows with orchestras, so we try to not think of how may albums we will sell or whether we will reach number one or not… If it happens it will be extremely wonderful and we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Paul: I guess that attitude stops you from going crazy?
Ryan: Exactly, exactly…
Paul: OK, what music currently inspires you?
Ryan: I love Snow Patrol and Keane, and a fairly new artist called Ben’s Brother – he has an album out right now. He wrote a couple of songs for us, so we’ve worked with him a lot. Great guy. Very talented.
Paul: Would you like to cover one of their songs?
Ryan: I’d love to cover Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. It’s a beautiful song, so I’d love to sing that.
Paul: Would you put your own spin on it?
Ryan: you know, it’s tough to do when you have a song that is so good. It would probably be a little less rocky, but I’d have to take it down the same route it’s already been taken…
Paul: So you have been all over
Ryan: haha, not so much here, but definitely in
Paul: Not an everyday occurrence I guess! What else can people expect from your live shows?
Ryan: We try to keep people there at all times. We don’t want anything in the show that is boring at all. We recorded 50 songs for our album and chose what we thought were the best 12. We want people to enjoy all of it. Sometimes you pick up an album and there are only 2 or 3 songs that you want to listen to. With our album and show we want people to come and have the attention on us at all times. We’re actually sorting out some headline dates right now and as soon as that’s sorted they will be on our website. We’re off to
Paul: you certainly have a busy time coming up. Do you think you will be home for Christmas?
Ryan: I hope we are home for a couple of days over Christmas – we’ll have to wait and see. It would be nice to spend some time with the family. Often Christmas is the only time we can all be together so this would be a fairly big reunion.
Paul: You are already fairly big in
Ryan: Yeah, I guess so. We went double platinum over there and we’ve been very lucky to have a great career so far, so we’re working really hard to make sure that continues as we travel around the world.
Paul: Good stuff! One thing that really interests me is the way you dress – it seems to be a style that would appeal to the more formal operatic type fan, but that has your own fashionable twist to it. Was that a conscious decision or was it something a stylist thought up or…?
Ryan: Absolutely it was something we really wanted to do. What happened was, a while ago we did a showcase of all our songs for the record companies to hear, and at the end of that we were lucky enough for three of the record companies to be really interested in our sound. In the end we went with Universal, because they gave us full creative control, not only over the music, but also over our style and how we dress. We definitely didn’t want to be caught in the machine that tells us how to dress and act and speak. We wanted to be ourselves and be comfortable with what we wear, but also feel we look good in it too.
Paul: And it works! You are pretty lucky because a lot of people don’t have that with their careers including established artists…
Ryan: Exactly – we know how lucky we are and are grateful for that.
Paul: I guess because you’ve already had success, it’s probably never crossed your mind to do one of these tv reality shows like X Factor or Canadian Idol?
Ryan: Never thought of it – we’ve always been really lucky to be able to move ahead with our career as it stands. You know what – those shows are a great way for people to get noticed and showcase their talent, so if it brings them success then there is nothing wrong with that. This is a hard industry to crack!
Ryan and Dan on stage at age 4...
Paul: It’s great that your talent has been able to help you go the “natural” route. I come from a large family and you are two of five. Did performing help you stand out, or do you think it’s naturally in your families blood to do that?
Ryan: I think it comes naturally from growing up around our father and brother and singing along with them, it became something that we always wanted to do. We went on stage actually, when we were four years old – I never thought of doing anything else. Ever.
Paul: It’s pretty good it worked out for you then J
Ryan: Exactly – and this may sound a little cheesy, but because we knew we wanted it so badly, we were determined to do everything we could to make it happen and never waive from that mindset. And that has worked for us. Keeping our fingers crossed anyway!
Paul: Well it seems to be going great. When choosing the first single, did you always have Like The Sun in mind or was it a struggle to choose between a few?
Ryan: Well we recorded a bunch of songs but as soon as we finished recording that song, we knew that was the first single – that was how we wanted people to first hear us and we hoped that it would create a good impression and make people want to hear more. So I can only hope we were right!
Paul: Is there anyone you would particularly love to work with in terms of writing, or production or duets?
Ryan: I would love to work with David Foster, we actually got the chance to work with one of his partners who has also worked with Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey… As for performing, we’d have to go for Pavarotti, he’s got a really strong voice that would make a distinctive track. I would love to play at the Royal Albert Hall with him – we are actually due to play there for the first time soon, so we are really looking forward to it.
Paul: It’s an amazing building – the shows are always amazing with great acoustics. Ok, moving onto something a little more serious. One of the standout tracks on your album – Tears Of An Angel – is about your niece and you are working with brain tumor
Ryan: Sure. While we were recording our album about 8 or 9 months ago, we got a phone call from
Paul: That definitely comes across in the track – it’s very emotional to hear and you can feel it in your voices and in the music. And how is your niece doing now?
Ryan: It’s difficult. I was talking to my sister a couple of days ago and she found out that there has never been a child this age with this specific type of tumor who has lived. Ever. So hopefully she will be the first. We are keeping our fingers crossed – she has just finished chemotherapy and we are just waiting and praying to see what happens. I mean what can you do other than be positive and keep hoping. You know we have webcam here on our computer so when we are in hotels, we try to go on that so we can see her and talk to her.
Paul: That’s great that you can do that – such a better way to communicate than just by phone. Well, I have a bunch of information that I will put up on the website about Brain Tumor
Ryan: Oh thanks so much for doing that…
Paul: No, not at all – it’s the very least I can do. OK wrapping it up now, where would you like to see yourself in a couple of years time?
Ryan: The goal has always been for people all over the world to hear our music. Some artists are just content playing in a small little club, or in their own country, but for us we want to play on lots of stages and have our music shared all over the world.
Paul: And are you already thinking of a second album, or are you purely focused on the first right now?
Ryan: That’s funny because Dan said to me today, that we should start thinking about the second album already! We will definitely start planning it soon because we don’t want it thrown together – we want it done right.
Paul: Exactly – I think people don’t realise how quickly a second album sometimes has to be put together. You have all this time to perfect the first, then you are busy touring all over the place and a second album has to be fitted in around that to keep the momentum going!
Ryan: Spot on. It is very easy to get wrapped up in travelling and sightseeing and singing, that you really have to make time to sit down and write and choose songs and get on with it, but we are committed to doing that. And getting it right. It is interesting that there seems to be real focus lately on the quality of the music and the talent of the singer and their voice whereas before it was mainly about style and image.
Paul: Any final words of wisdom?
Ryan: Don’t eat yellow snow!!
Paul: Ryan – thank you very much, it has been an absolute delight! Good luck with everything and best wishes to your niece…
And with that the interview was over. The passion of their music may have sucked me in, but it is the absolute charm and magnetic appeal of the guys that has totally won me over. Below are some links that you will find useful when checking out their music as well as all the information you need on brain tumor
LINK: Pre-order Like The Sun at amazon
LINK: Pre-order the debut album at amazon
LINK: RyanDan official homepage
LINK: RyanDan official myspace
LINK: When i first wrote about RyanDan...
BRAIN TUMOR UK INFORMATION:
Every day in the UK, 49 adults and children are diagnosed with brain tumours. Twenty percent of all cancer patients develop secondary brain tumours. They are the most common solid tumour in children. The incidence has increased over the last 30 years yet the prognosis remains bleak.
Singers Ryan and Dan Kowarsky are two people whose family has been personally affected by the disease when, earlier this year, their 3 year old niece Tal was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
“After learning that our three-year-old niece had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive, malignant brain tumour, we were absolutely devastated.” recalls Ryan
The duo recently learnt of the work of Brain Tumour UK and, having spoken with the charity, volunteered their services as ambassadors to help the charity’s work, as Dan explains:
“We consider it an honour and a privilege to be able to work together with Brain Tumour U.K. to help families who are struggling with this terrifying diagnosis, and we hope that someday soon it will no longer pose such a serious threat.”
Whilst on their current promotion tour of Britain Ryan and Dan, who perform under the name of RyanDan, will be visiting neuro-oncology wards in hospitals around the country as the first activity of their long-term commitment.
Jenny Baker OBE, Chief Executive Brain Tumour UK: “RyanDan know first hand the devastating consequences for individuals and their families of having to come to terms with a brain tumour. Brain Tumour UK is both honoured and delighted that RyanDan have kindly committed to do all they can to help Brain Tumour UK in its vital work of supporting patients and their families and working towards better care and treatments”
RyanDan’s forthcoming album includes the song “Tears Of An Angel” that they composed in honour of their young niece Tal when she was undergoing chemotherapy. The inspiring song will be online at Brain Tumour UK’s website www.braintumouruk.org.uk
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