Asked if they would be playing their music in Soviet times, members of the quartet quietly smile and shake their heads. “Western music was decadent and evil,” says lead singer and keyboardist Ewert Sundja only half-jokingly about growing up in the shadow of Soviet prohibitions on culture and language.
The band's name was conjured by Sundja's wife as the original trio of Sundja, guitarist Erki Pärnoja and drummer Kristjan Kallas recorded their first album, The Hills Behind the Hills, released in 2009. The name stuck as bassist Ivo Etti ― the third “dragon” ― joined the band when they started touring. “Some dragons have two heads,” says Sundja of the morphed foursome.
In 2011, Ewert and The Two Dragons won the Tallinn Music Week/Skype “Go Change The World” award. The band also picked up three honours from Estonian Raadio2 for Best New Act, Station Favourite, and Hit Of The Year for their song, “Good Man Down”, the title track of their second album released in April 2011 on Latvian indie label I Love You Records.
Estonian National Television voted “Good Man Down” the best video of 2011, featuring idyllic woodlands and Sundja's melodic vocals. Earlier this year the band won five Estonian Music Awards for Best Band, Best Video, Song of the Year, Best Rock Album, and Album of The Year.
Ewert and the Two Dragons hesitate to name specific influences although they started out covering the likes of Sting, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. The band's songs are in English which they speak fluently.
All four members studied music at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. They have always worked as professional musicians ― no humbling side jobs here ― which reportedly left one European reporter speechless.
On their first trip to Toronto, these Estonian rock stars are content to stay in the dormitory setting of Tartu College. They talk of enjoying a local Thai restaurant; taking in the sights and sounds of Kensington and Chinatown; and making the requisite trip to the CN Tower.
Canadian Music Week, held in March, showcased over 1,000 bands from more than 40 countries at venues across Toronto. In it's thirtieth year, the annual conference is about music and the business of music. The ambitious ‘Dragons' were here to make connections and test the waters of North American markets. They said they were pleased with the contacts and exposure they gained at the festival. “It takes time,” says Sundja, smiling with quiet determination.
After Toronto, the band was “very excited” to be playing New York City hot spot, Piano's, and the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. The band's spring and summer schedule is packed with festival dates across Europe including Switzerland, France and Belgium.
Sundja describes Estonia's music scene as thriving with lots of new bands doing “interesting stuff.” Band manager, Toomas Olljum, is quick to point out a new “vibe” in Tallinn. With historic buildings restored and a new generation born in free Estonia, there is “a lot of edge.”
People don't really talk about the Soviet era anymore, according to Olljum. It's not that people are hiding the country's Soviet history, he says, it's just that people of all ages are living in a “new environment, a new world.”
In music, as in life, there comes a time to leave old hurts behind and embrace the hope of the future.
Linda Ambos
