Kurvitz is the son of artists Raoul Kurvitz and Lilian Mosolainen. In 2001 he became the lyricist and lead singer of progressive rock band Ultramelanhool, inspired by Estonian bands Metro Luminal and Vennaskond. To date, they have released two albums, Must apelsin and Materjal, in 2004 and 2008 respectively. A song from the first albumTalvehommik was featured in the Kanal 2TV seriesÜhikarotid. The band failed to find an Estonian record label for their second album. It was self-released with money inherited by Kurvitz's long-time friend, editor and collaborator Martin Luiga, and released on the internet for free. A third album, Fantastika was announced on the ZA/UM website in May 2011, but it has yet to materialize. In 2011 Kurvitz collaborated with Raoul Kurvitz on the albumForbidden to Sing, providing backing vocals and synth. The album was granted the Annual Award of Estonian Cultural Endowment.
Writing
Kurvitz largely relies on the traditions of world-building from Dungeons & Dragons in his writing, having played the table-top roleplaying game for much of his life. Others are also involved in the development of ideas. "Mass editing" was employed as a tool in the finishing stage of the book, where people of various backgrounds assessed the readability and realism of the work, pointed out confusing passages and suggested amendments. In 2013 Kurvitz published the novel Sacred and Terrible Air. It is set in a fictional world and centers on three men who, twenty years after the mysterious disappearance of their classmates, are still determined to find them. It received mostly positive reviews, with literary theorist Johanna Ross highlighting it as one of the few books to successfully bridge the science fiction and "literature proper". Later that year, Kurvitz resigned from his role as editor of Estonian cultural magazine Sirp when Andres Aule publicly voiced his objections to a poem being published allegedly without his permission; Kurvitz and Kaur Kender assumed responsibility. Kurvitz founded the video game development company ZA/UM in 2016. Its first game, Disco Elysium, set in the world of the Sacred and Terrible Air, was released on 15 October 2019 with Kurvitz serving as its lead writer and designer. The game received universal acclaim, with its narrative and conversational systems receiving the most in particular. It won several awards and accolades from various publications.
