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[Publicity photo]
Seeing double? No you're not. Brothers Michael and Steven Bernardo are pop/R&B team, Back II Back. The identical twins will perform at the Florida Aquarium on Saturday.
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By JERROD DOUSE
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 20, 2002
Back II Back has a natural chemistry that leaves other boy bands looking synthetic.
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What makes Back II Back different from all those other pop/R&B bands out there?
The group's two members offer the same answer:
"All those other groups were put together, and we were born together," says Michael Bernardo. He and brother Steven Bernardo are identical twins.
They weren't always together, though; as adolescents, they grew up in California in separate homes, one in a tough urban surrounding and the other leading a "safe" suburban life, according to their publicity material. As teenagers, each twin performed individually in California and caught the eye of a local promoter, who first thought they were the same singer.
The promoter finally realized he wasn't seeing double and helped them connect, both in their musical and personal lives. At 23, they have released their first album CD, Back II Back, and are on a 12-city Radio Disney tour. The tour, "Can We Work It Out . . . Coast to Coast with Back II Back," makes a stop in Tampa on Saturday at the Florida Aquarium. The free 1 p.m. concert is part of the opening festivities for the aquarium's new "Invaders" exhibit, devoted to Florida's exotic plants and trees.
From a tour stop in Texas, both Bernardos took time to talk with Xpress by phone about their career, singing together and what inspired their first hit single, Didn't Mean to Make You Cry.
Xpress: What encouraged you guys to start singing?
Steve: It was like an escape route from pain.
Michael: To escape from the pain, and singing to escape from reality.
Xpress: How does it feel to be in a music group with each other?
Steve: I'd rather be singing with my brother than anybody else.
Michael: We're still getting to know each other, day by day.
Xpress: How did you and your brother get where you are today?
Steve: A lot of hard work and patience.
Michael: We're achieving our dream by working hard and keeping faith.
Xpress: How did you prepare for the current tour?
Steve: By being around people with love, and loving what we do.
Michael: By separating myself from all the negative.
Xpress: Is it hard to maintain your image to your young fans and still appeal to your older fans?
Steve: We're trying appeal to the older crowd but still trying to please everybody.
Michael: I'm trying to appeal to the young girls all the way to the grandmas. Back II Back is all about the people.
Xpress: What inspired your first single, Didn't Mean to Make You Cry?
Steve: The song alone as far as the video was inspiring.
Michael: It's just about real life.
Xpress: Have you ever made anybody cry?
Steve: If we did, we're sorry! But nothing intentional.
Michael: I sure hope not.
Xpress: What's the most important thing about your fans?
Steve: That they feel like they're friends more than fans.
Michael: We don't want them to look at us like celebrities, but as if we were their friends from school.
Xpress: What was the very first thing you guys bought with your first paychecks?
Steve: Besides spend it like crazy?
Michael: Bought rims for our cars.
Xpress: What makes you guys different from all the other boy bands out there?
Steve: They were put together, and we were born together.
Michael: All those other groups were put together, and we were born together. Does it really matter that Steve and Michael from Back II Back are twins, and in a singing group together? Well, yes, of course. (Our) background shows a lot of brotherly love.
-- For more information regarding Back II Back just visit the Web site at www.back2backonline.com
Here's the rest of today's Xpress
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