When Dino and Julio Acconci make an entrance, everyone in the room notices them. With handsome, chiseled features, well-dressed impeccable style, and friendly to a fault – they’re like every other male Italian. Except they’re not. Born and bred in Macau to an Italian father and Burmese mother, and speaking seven different languages, the twins are anything but ordinary.

When you first meet the brothers, it’s like seeing double. Their bubbly personalities and constant joking make it impossible to focus on which one is which. But, after spending an hour talking to them about their music, life, and dreams, we finally discerned the difference: Julio has a goatee.

Under the surface, though, they couldn’t be more different. “Julio is chattier. He’s a born communicator, to the point that you’ve got to put a muzzle on his face – which is why he wanted to get into this business,” says Dino about his brother’s career shift from being a graphic designer. “I, however, have become more of a hermit type over the years. I like to stay on my own quite a bit, but I’m not shy.”

Despite Dino’s reticence, when you match their good looks with melodic voices and a knack for acoustics, you’ve got something of a musical sensation. The pair exploded onto the Cantopop scene in 2005, immediately achieving critical success with their debut album Double Surround Sound. However, the route to stardom wasn’t easy.

“Every musician’s dream is to get a gig, and for ten years that was our challenge,” says Dino about the time that passed since Soler (a phonetic translation of their mother’s maiden name, it means ‘aim high’ in Burmese) was launched upon the world. “In front of a plate of pasta and a bottle of Chianti, Julio asked me if I was interested in doing music seriously.”

The brothers had been playing as amateurs since they were children, but pursuing it professionally had seemed a farfetched dream. “We always ended up living in small isolated villages [Macau, and later Italy], and you never had a feeling that you could get into the music scene,” explains Dino. Then, a fortuitous encounter and a case of good timing turned their fortunes around.

In 2001, Beyond guitarist Paul Wong invited Dino to try out for his rock band HANN, which he asked him to join after a successful audition. At practice, Wong would often mistake Julio – who frequently chose to tag along for rehearsal – for his twin brother. Discovering he too had talent, Wong would call Julio on stage at HANN concerts and let the duo perform together. One particular gig was attended by a representative of Hong Kong label BMA Records, who, impressed by what he saw and heard, signed the twins after the show. The rest is history in the making.

Seen as Asians in Italy and gweilos in China, it had never been easy for the general public to identify with the twins. But for their vision, it didn’t matter. “We saw ourselves in front of this international audience, and we didn’t necessarily see ourselves singing in just one language, but in several,” says Dino, about how they want to redefine the definition of world music. Their four albums to date attest to this ambition. With songs in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Italian, few crossover artists can compare in terms of linguistic ability.

In person, however, when the brothers speak modestly about their frustrations and visions, you almost forget they are pop stars. Surely there must be some outrageous concert moment to recount, stories of women tearing off their clothes backstage? Don’t count on it. “This is the biggest misunderstanding people have of us,” says Dino. “When we go on stage, we are very serious about what we do. Our music, how we project ourselves, and how our message comes across, are always very wholesome, family oriented.”

“Plus, Chinese girls don’t throw their bras at you,” laughs Julio. But, if we must have something: “Julio has had at least two men go up [onto the stage] and kiss him,” Dino admits.

And what about their success; have they achieved everything they wanted? The brothers are baffled by the question. “Success? What success?” They respond in chorus. “In Hong Kong, unless you are a spokesperson for a big brand or starring in movies, there really isn’t the space for a musician,” says Julio. “We want to fight for the local musicians who want to do just music and don’t want to get into the hustling of the entertainment business. Forget about making loads of money; let’s see if we can make a living. Because if we can do it, then it means it’s possible for others too.”

By Anna Bisazza

Soler perform poolside at the Hard Rock Hotel 11.30pm, July 4; www.solerworld.com. Read the review of their latest album Canto in the June 10 issue of Time Out.