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Despite the impressive journey Ewert and The Two Dragons have already been on, there’s always somewhere new to go. The four-piece band started playing  in their native Estonia and have since become a worldwide draw thanks to smart, quirky pop songs and a slew of major awards, in order to make their newest album, Circles, the group went somewhere they’d never been before. 

“It was definitely a special process for us,” frontman Ewert Sundja explains. “Our previous two records were quickly recorded in a small Estonian town without any fancy equipment. This time we spent over a month in a studio in the U.S.—and that was a big thing.”

Logging time at Bear Creek Studio wasn’t the only new experience for the group— Sundja, guitarist Erki Pärnoja, drummer Kristjan Kallas and bassist Ivo Etti — who in 2013 won the European Border Breakers Award. For the first time, the band not only recorded in a studio but wrote their tracks there as well.  

“It all happened during the recording process,” Sundja says. “On previous albums, we had all the songs done and studio time was only recording time. This time, we had three or four songs from the beginning, but the rest of the songs were just ideas. We didn’t have any clear concept when we went there, it was something that was happening on a subliminal level and we couldn’t change the direction.”

This time around, the band—who’ve been playing together since 2008—found themselves embracing new sounds and new ways of thinking about music. 

“This new album is different than the albums before, while we were recording it seemed like everyone was having the same kind of questions and thinking about the same things and this became a concept for the album,” Sundja says. “Even though we’re barely in our thirties, the growing and maturing process is the main theme of this album. We all started understanding more about life in general, hence the album title Circles. Everything is turning and we’re suddenly back in the same place we’ve been before, wondering about love and life and death and right and wrong.”

It’s a thought process he says can be heard in the album’s tracks, especially on “Million Miles,” which falls far outside what Sundja admits to be the band’s “indie folk” wheelhouse. 

“It’s probably the most rock ‘n’ roll song we have,” he says, “and we’ve never done a song like that before. It didn’t freak us out, but it took some time for us to get used to the idea of making something so different. It felt right, though, so it really just had to fit.”

Indeed, this time around the band seems to be guided by feeling. And while they might have shelves full of awards and weeks in the studio to work on new material, they’re adamant that the music they’re making is some of the most honest and important work of their career. 

“In some ways, nothing has really changed and we’re the same guys,” Sundja says. “Previously, we had the feeling that we needed to prove ourselves, but that’s not really a helpful thought. Now we’re just always trying to be better, that’s the biggest thing we’ve learned so far.”

Euphoria (Nicky Romero Remix) out now!
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I make music, play instruments and my dog gets all the shine ✨
Label || Protocol Recordings
Radio Show || Protocol Radio

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Ludovico Einaudi is known the world over through films and TV. His music has featured in titles including Black Swan, Doctor Zhivago, This is England and many more. In 2011 his track I Giorni was played on Radio 1, and his haunting melodies are timeless in their beauty.

Follow me for new and bespoke recordings straight from the label.

No one could have imagined at that time what to expect - like Xavier de Maistre himself, when he decided to change the face of the harp 16 years ago. Today he plays pieces like "Moldau" by Smetana in breathtaking precision and presents masterful pieces of music that are usually played by an entire orchestra.

Meanwhile, a worldwide audience listens to his virtuosity and enjoys the unprecedented sounds. Pieces, that no harpist played before, or even thought about - like the Haydn piano concertos. Not only that makes him one of the most extraordinary musicians, even masters of this time.

Xavier de Maistre began to study harp with 9 years. Like many other famous musicians, all started with love - but in this case not as expected the love to his harp. It was rather the love for his former teacher, who offered extra harp lessons. Early, it turned out that Xavier has a great talent and no wonder he started with 25 years to play for the Vienna Philharmonic. Before that he played 3 years for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and in 1998 Xavier won the first prize of the "USA International Harp Competition“, the major harp competitions in the world. But since Xavier´s family is not from a traditional harp-playing dynasty they put great importance to a solid education. So Xavier started his study of politics at the „Institut des Sciences Politiques“ in Paris and spent 1 year in London at the „London School of Economics ", when he finally decided to prefer music to the political studies. For a musician, he achieved very early what all harpists dream of – a position in one of the best orchestras in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic.

However Xavier de Maistre was about to go on. To see this point as the highlight of the career, which would definitely be a great honor for most of the harpists, and aslo for Xavier, but it was also a kind of sad moment. He achieved the ultimate goal of a harpist at age 25. Through his countless appearances and his keen ambition he has always wants to refute the long-existing bias of the harp - played in the background by angel-like women. Thanks to his his quick anticipation, intelligence and tremendous skill, he has played many pieces as a soloist with the harp and delighted thousands of listeners. Finally, he succeeds to establish the harp as an independent instrument. During his career, many great conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Andre Previn, and Daniele Gatti became curious on him and his passion and asked him to play with them. A long series of concerts follows, convincing the audience that Xavier de Maistre is undoubtedly the master of his instrument. Not for nothing, beside famous conductors, also the most successful singers like Barbara Bonney, Kathleen Battle and Diana Damrau played with him. Likewise, of course, the long list of world-renowned opera houses which he had already visited: Theatre des Champs Elysees Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Tokyo Opera City, Lincoln Center New York, Salzburg Festival, La Scala Milan and many others.

No wonder, Xavier´s enthusiasm and his gift to play will not put an end to this success story. Awarded with the Echo Klassik Award 2009 for his album "Nuit d'Etoiles" as "Instrumentalist of the Year" (Sony Music) he reaps the fruits of his labor.

For more than 9 years Xavier de Maistre is working as a professor at the Musikhochschule Hamburg and now also teaches at the Julliard School in New York, at the Toho University in Tokyo and in London at Trinity College. After 11 years with the Vienna Philharmonic Xavier leaves his position in order to devote himself to his international solo career - a step that no harpist has done before.

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