b4-4 Go-Going to the big time

They came, they sang, they conquered.

How b4-4, a new Toronto-based boy-band trio, managed to get signed to major label Sony Music and subsequently get to record their self-titled debut was a case of determination, bravery and right-place, right-time luck.

In search of some free publicity around March 1999, image-savvy twins Ryan and Daniel Kowarsky, 20, and best friend Ohad Einbinder, 18, were originally destined to pop a loonie at the famed Speaker's Corner booth attached to the MuchMusic building in Toronto.

As it turned out, b4-4 (pronounced 'Before Four') didn't quite make it there. Instead, a different let's-get-noticed tactic was suggested.

"In the car on the way (to Speaker's Corner), Ohad said, 'Hey, why don't we go to a record company? How about Sony Music?,' " recalls Daniel Kowarsky by phone on a break from shooting their latest video, Go Go.

SWEET-TALKING SECRETARY

"The next thing you know we found ourselves trying to convince the secretary to letting us in," Kowarsky says. "At one moment, two guys walked out, saw us trying to sweet-talk the secretary and said, 'Come on in and sing for us. By the way, who are you guys?' We told them, 'Uh, we're the postmen.' "

The two attentive listeners turned out to be none other than the vice-president of Sony Music Canada's A&R department and the chief engineer for Sony's Oasis recording studios.

The trio were signed on the spot. "It's so amazing, we're soooo lucky," Kowarsky says.

Topping a pop music bill tomorrow night at the Civic Centre Theatre as part of Super Ex 2000, b4-4's debut record has already been certified gold in Canada. Recent performances have also elicited their share of eager young fans, jamming their website (www.b4-4.com) with requests and screaming at their live shows.

But the band doesn't mind one bit. "We're living a dream right now," Kowarsky says. "It's such an adrenaline rush to get up and say, 'I can't wait to go to work.' This is what we want to do. Music, music, music, all the time."