Soler (band)
Encyclopedia
Soler is a Hong Kong-based rock
duo
originally from Macau
formed by twin brothers Julio Acconci (vocals/keyboard) and Dino Acconci (vocals/guitar), Soler made their Hong Kong debut in early 2005. Unlike many of the current artistes who resemble fabricated idols
, Soler compose and write all their own music and are renowned for the quality of their live performances, and have been acclaimed by fans, fellow artistes and critics alike.
to an Italian
father and a Karen
mother. They spent their childhood in Macau, when they reached adulthood they moved back to Italy. Soler officially formed and became professional musicians signing to EMI
Italy in 1996 and released their first single in Europe.
Prior to their debut in Hong Kong they returned to Macau in 1999.
In 2001 Beyond
's renowned guitarist Paul Wong was searching for a guitarist to join his new rock band HANN, and Dino was invited over to Hong Kong for an audition. Dino's friendship with Paul soon led to Paul discovering Dino had a twin, Julio, who was in Julio's own words 'tagging along' to practices, but only after Paul mistook Julio for Dino. The idea of 'Soler' turning professional was a result of peer pressure from the friends of the Acconci brothers, who all echoed the same message - that it was a waste of their vocal talent if they didn't at least give Hong Kong a crack. Soler soon turned professional when offered a contract with a new music label after a member of the audience was fascinated with one of their live gigs in Hong Kong.
Soler is also currently the only band from Macau producing Cantonese songs in Hong Kong. The brothers can fluently speak and sing in 7 languages, including English
, Mandarin, Spanish
, French
, the official languages of Macau, Cantonese and Portuguese
, and their mother tongue Italian
.
On 15 July 2005, Soler released their debut album "Double Surround Sound" (雙聲道) which stormed the charts . The album includes songs sung in Cantonese alongside songs in English, with even a few sung in Mandarin. Their debut album sold so well in Hong Kong that Soler moved quickly to release their second album "Intuition", a Mandarin album, only 5 months later (on 19 December 2005), whilst juggling marketing duties, advertisements and Radio and TV appearances all in the same few months.
Beyond
's renowned guitarist Paul Wong, is also a big fan of Soler. Prior to Soler's debut, Dino was a band member of the group HANN
, a band formed by Paul Wong when he went solo. Wong has also helped to pen lyrics to some of Soler’s Cantonese songs, most notable the hit single‘Tsunami’, a song depicting the uphill struggle Soler went through before they became successful.
On 7 July 2007 they performed at the Chinese leg
of Live Earth
in Shanghai
. http://liveearth.msn.com/artists/soler
band who sang in Cantonese'. With their popularity soaring, Soler became extremely busy as they were surrounded by the media and paparazzi, but with that Soler have also remained modest. They are fondly known to the media as "The Italian twins band", and it is now very common to hear their songs on Hong Kong radio channels, as well as seeing them make regular appearances on TV, print media and radio interviews.
Commercial Radio 903 D.J. Inti, who hosts a popular weekly rock music programme on Saturday evenings, has been credited as one of the first people to help unearth the talented duo by inviting them onto her show "Band Time"《組BAND 時間》on 18 May 2005, a time when Soler was still not yet well known to the Hong Kong public. Inti's radio programme "Band Time" introduces overseas band music as well as introducing local Hong Kong underground bands with interviews.
, Hong Kong.
Soler held a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum
in Hung Hom
on 25th April 2006. They invited as guest performers Paul Wong, Ryan Hui and Karen Mok
.
On 31st October 2010, Soler performed with an 8 piece band from Sicily, Italy called The OmniArt Ensemble at the 24th Macau International Music Festival.
Soler did a round of concerts for VIVO Tour on 12th November 2010 at Rotunda One Hitec, Hong Kong and 19th November 2010 at Legacy Taipei. A follow up tour "VIVO, Live goes on" continued the album promotion tour with smaller gigs in different cities from China to Taiwan to Malaysia. And was ended with the concert "When Summer Ends—A Gathering" in Legacy, Taipei on the 21st of September 2011.
In 2011, Soler began touring with Lo Tai Yo in the Love Melody 2100 Tour, playing a significant part in the concerts with a rock setting together with Tony Wong from the Taiwan rock band "Monkey Pilot". The tour kicked off in Beijing, China on the 2nd of July 2011, scheduled to run all the way into the summer of 2012, with stops in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and more.
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
duo
Duo
-Arts:*Duet , a musical piece performed by two people*Duo, a musical ensemble composed of two musicians*Comedy duo, also known as a double act*Duo , 2008*Duo , 1991...
originally from Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
formed by twin brothers Julio Acconci (vocals/keyboard) and Dino Acconci (vocals/guitar), Soler made their Hong Kong debut in early 2005. Unlike many of the current artistes who resemble fabricated idols
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
, Soler compose and write all their own music and are renowned for the quality of their live performances, and have been acclaimed by fans, fellow artistes and critics alike.
Biography
Julio and Dino Acconci were born in MacauMacau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
to an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
father and a Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
mother. They spent their childhood in Macau, when they reached adulthood they moved back to Italy. Soler officially formed and became professional musicians signing to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Italy in 1996 and released their first single in Europe.
Prior to their debut in Hong Kong they returned to Macau in 1999.
In 2001 Beyond
Beyond (band)
Beyond was a rock band formed in Hong Kong in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia. They were also very popular in mainland China. The band was, and still is, widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantonese band from Hong Kong...
's renowned guitarist Paul Wong was searching for a guitarist to join his new rock band HANN, and Dino was invited over to Hong Kong for an audition. Dino's friendship with Paul soon led to Paul discovering Dino had a twin, Julio, who was in Julio's own words 'tagging along' to practices, but only after Paul mistook Julio for Dino. The idea of 'Soler' turning professional was a result of peer pressure from the friends of the Acconci brothers, who all echoed the same message - that it was a waste of their vocal talent if they didn't at least give Hong Kong a crack. Soler soon turned professional when offered a contract with a new music label after a member of the audience was fascinated with one of their live gigs in Hong Kong.
Career
Prior to their 2005 debut, as an underground band which performed many live gigs, Soler has over the years developed a musical style that blends rock, soul and folk into one. Their music could best be described as folk rock with a bit of soul. Soler's live performances have had electrifying effects on Hong Kong's usually timid and reserved audience.Soler is also currently the only band from Macau producing Cantonese songs in Hong Kong. The brothers can fluently speak and sing in 7 languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Mandarin, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the official languages of Macau, Cantonese and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, and their mother tongue Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
On 15 July 2005, Soler released their debut album "Double Surround Sound" (雙聲道) which stormed the charts . The album includes songs sung in Cantonese alongside songs in English, with even a few sung in Mandarin. Their debut album sold so well in Hong Kong that Soler moved quickly to release their second album "Intuition", a Mandarin album, only 5 months later (on 19 December 2005), whilst juggling marketing duties, advertisements and Radio and TV appearances all in the same few months.
Beyond
Beyond (band)
Beyond was a rock band formed in Hong Kong in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia. They were also very popular in mainland China. The band was, and still is, widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantonese band from Hong Kong...
's renowned guitarist Paul Wong, is also a big fan of Soler. Prior to Soler's debut, Dino was a band member of the group HANN
Hann
- People :* Frank Hann, Australian explorer* William Hann, Australian explorer and cattleman* Julius von Hann, Austrian meteorologist* Quinten Hann, Australian former snooker player* Wong Choong Hann, Malaysian badminton player- Places :* Hann, Senegal...
, a band formed by Paul Wong when he went solo. Wong has also helped to pen lyrics to some of Soler’s Cantonese songs, most notable the hit single‘Tsunami’, a song depicting the uphill struggle Soler went through before they became successful.
On 7 July 2007 they performed at the Chinese leg
Live Earth concert, Shanghai
The Live Earth concert in China was held at Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai on 7 July 2007.-Running order:*Evonne Hsu - "Love on July 7", "Lost in Venice", "I" *Anthony Wong - "The Little Prince", "The Season", "Venus"...
of Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. http://liveearth.msn.com/artists/soler
Debut
Soler's Hong Kong debut, produced by US-based Lupo Groinig, in early 2005 greatly exceeded their own expectations. The Acconci brothers were initially worried that, like their debut in Italy, their Eurasian ancestry would make it difficult for the Hong Kong locals to accept them, although people of mixed or full foreign appearance are usually received with interest rather than rejection by the Chinese people of Hong Kong. However, to their surprise Soler was a storming success - as soon as their first song "Soul Lost" (失魂) was aired on radio, listeners sat up and took notice of the 'gweiloGweilo
Gweilo or Gwailo is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use. If there is some racially deprecatory meaning or it is expressive of hate, it is shown by the addition of the adjective, sei or as a prefix: seigwailo...
band who sang in Cantonese'. With their popularity soaring, Soler became extremely busy as they were surrounded by the media and paparazzi, but with that Soler have also remained modest. They are fondly known to the media as "The Italian twins band", and it is now very common to hear their songs on Hong Kong radio channels, as well as seeing them make regular appearances on TV, print media and radio interviews.
Commercial Radio 903 D.J. Inti, who hosts a popular weekly rock music programme on Saturday evenings, has been credited as one of the first people to help unearth the talented duo by inviting them onto her show "Band Time"《組BAND 時間》on 18 May 2005, a time when Soler was still not yet well known to the Hong Kong public. Inti's radio programme "Band Time" introduces overseas band music as well as introducing local Hong Kong underground bands with interviews.
Discography
- Double Surround Sound (雙聲道) (15 July 2005)
- Intuition (直覺) (19 December 2005)
- Dragon Tiger GateDragon Tiger GateDragon Tiger Gate is a 2006 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Wilson Yip and featuring fight choreography by Donnie Yen, who also stars in the film. The film is based on the manhua Oriental Heroes, which bears the same Chinese title as the film...
(龍虎門) (EP) (27 July 2006) - X2 (9 September 2007)
- Unplugged at Kafka (9 September 2008)
- CantoCanto (Soler album)Canto is the 5th studio album by C-rock band Soler. It performed successfully on the Hong Kong charts. The title of the album is a play on words, referring to canto, Italian for "I sing", and referring to Canto, a popular slang for Cantonese language, as the album is sung entirely in Cantonese...
(9 April 2009) - Vivo (3 November 2010)
Concerts
Soler held their first live concerts on December 27 and 28 at Kowloon BayKowloon Bay
Kowloon Bay is a bay located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is the eastern portion of Victoria Harbour, between Hung Hom and Lei Yue Mun...
, Hong Kong.
Soler held a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum
Hong Kong Coliseum
Hong Kong Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena, in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.It was built by the Urban Council and inaugurated on 27 April 1983....
in Hung Hom
Hung Hom
Hung Hom is an area of Kowloon, in Hong Kong, administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of the railway in the Yau Tsim Mong District. Hung Hom serves mainly residential purposes though is mixed with some industrial buildings in the north.-Geography:Hung Hom is located...
on 25th April 2006. They invited as guest performers Paul Wong, Ryan Hui and Karen Mok
Karen Mok
Karen Joy Morris, known more commonly in the Sinosphere as Karen Mok or Mok Man-Wai, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong-based actress and singer-songwriter.- Biography :...
.
On 31st October 2010, Soler performed with an 8 piece band from Sicily, Italy called The OmniArt Ensemble at the 24th Macau International Music Festival.
Soler did a round of concerts for VIVO Tour on 12th November 2010 at Rotunda One Hitec, Hong Kong and 19th November 2010 at Legacy Taipei. A follow up tour "VIVO, Live goes on" continued the album promotion tour with smaller gigs in different cities from China to Taiwan to Malaysia. And was ended with the concert "When Summer Ends—A Gathering" in Legacy, Taipei on the 21st of September 2011.
In 2011, Soler began touring with Lo Tai Yo in the Love Melody 2100 Tour, playing a significant part in the concerts with a rock setting together with Tony Wong from the Taiwan rock band "Monkey Pilot". The tour kicked off in Beijing, China on the 2nd of July 2011, scheduled to run all the way into the summer of 2012, with stops in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and more.
Awards
- On 1st January 2006 at the 2005 CRHK Annual Music Awards, Soler were awarded the 2005 Best Group Newcomer Gold Award, following them were electronica group Pixel Toy (Bronze Award) and pop group KrustyKrusty (music group)Krusty is a Cantopop music group formed by Jan Cheung and Chucky . The group was created under Hong Kong music production company Silly Thing in 2005, and is characterised by its outstanding dancing skill, bright and upbeat melodies and their cute appearance. Probably because of that, the group...
(Silver Award).