COVENANT

Probably the biggest Synth-pop/ EBM band in the world, Covenant, need no further introduction. Joakim Montelius, one of the founding members of the Swedish band gives subexistance a hearty interview, revealing among others their forthcoming show on the 25^th of May at Gagrin 205! Enjoy…

On 17^th of January you released your 7^th studio full-length album “Modern Ruin”, almost five years after your last one, “Skyshaper”. Since I’ve not heard it yet what should we expect from this? Could you give us some info regarding the album?

Hm, it’s not so easy for me to describe it. I would recommend actually listening to it. (at this point Joakim sends us a link for a promo download of the album).

Which were the main influences of “Modern Ruin”?

There were many different kinds of inspiration. I think, when you listen to it, that some are quite obvious: classic electronica, new romantic electropop, “arty” noise music, ambient, certain goth elements, avant garde classical music, dubstep, funk… a bit of most everything actually. Then, there are of course the stuff that life throws at you. It’s been very tumultuous years for us on a personal level. We went through a lot: a father died, a marriage and two divorces, two children were born, we moved back and forth, the USA got a black president, the first private space flight, we lost a band member and gained a new one, a financial crisis and never ending conflict in many places of the world. We toured for almost two years. I mean, four years is a long time for most people, but to us more happened in that time than some people experience in a lifetime. So there was plenty of inspiration, just a bit tricky to sum up.

If you had to choose 3 songs from “Modern Ruin” which ones would they be and why?

I wouldn’t try. The number of songs on the album are all necessary to make it what it is. Picking three, would be like having to choose one third of a girlfriend. Perhaps an interesting experiment of thought, but nothing I would like to do.

Let’s dive into the past: Back to the days when you published your first track “The Replicant” on Memento Materia. What do you recall from these days? How much have things changed for you since then?

Oh. That feels like a different world. We were surprised that Memento Materia were interested in our music at all. Back then, we made rather rough EBM with heavy influences from underground techno. In Sweden most people did synthpop and techno was still practically unknown – people thought it was stuff like Technotronic or other disgusting MTV crap – so we didn’t really hope for a record contract, we just did what we wanted to listen to ourselves. So when “The Replicant” became a minor hit and we started working on the album “Dreams of a Cryotank” we thought it would be the first and the last album we ever did.

Since then… well, let’s just say that there was no way we could ever have anticipated the success we’ve had for such a long time. We never dreamed of becoming famous or stars or whatever. We just wanted to make music and fool around with electronics. But there was a great side effect to that success: we got to travel around the world and see and experience all those things that we had always dreamed about. The first memory I have of dreaming about what I would do when I grew up was to be an explorer. And even if it took a completely unimaginable twist, that’s sort of what I became. Travelling and meeting people, being in constant transit, it changes you and I think it is irreversible.

So we grew into adulthood by spending months locked up in a studio with only machines for company and then speeding all over the globe to perform that music to lots of people we never met before. It’s a rather odd kind of life. But I wouldn’t change it, even if I could.

Which do you believe are the band’s milestones from forming since today and why?

1. Meeting and becoming friends
2. Buying a sampler
3. Discovering dance music
4. Releasing “Sequencer”
5. Releasing “United States of Mind”

After splitting ways back in 2007, do you still keep in touch with Clas Nachmanson? Is he involved in any musical project?

Clas lives just 500 meters from my house. We meet and hang out regularly, so his decision to leave the band didn’t have any effect on our friendship. He plays the guitar every now and then with friends, but he’s not working on anything serious.

EBM anthems like “We Stand Alone” & “Like Tears In Rain” define Covenant’s sound. Even those who don’t follow your band are familiar with these ones. What do you think of this? Do you think it’s easy to repeat this once again with any song from your latest album, or you just don’t care?

“Lightbringer” is already the most successful track ever in the history of the DAC (German Alternative Charts), staying at #1 for almost four months in a row. The DAC is a good indicator of the “efficiency” of this kind of track. So who knows, that might very well happen with a song from “Modern Ruin”, to fill that role. I feel a bit divided about it all. On the one hand it feels great to get a hit after four years of absence, but on the other hand it doesn’t feel particularly important. As long as a good song is a good song in our own opinions, we’re happy with it. And besides, we’ve made more than enough “EBM anthems” over the years: “Stalker”, “Figurehead”, “One World One Sky”, “Tension”, “Dead Stars”, “Call The Ships to Port”, “20 Hz”, “Go Film”, “Bullet”, “Tour de Force”, “Ritual Noise”… So it doesn’t seem necessary to make any more of those. But, for some reason, we keep doing it. There are several tracks on “Modern Ruin” that will stir up some serious action on the dancefloor. ;)

If you had to pick 3 bands, of similar genre with Covenant, which ones would they be the most representative?

Hmmm. I can’t think of anyone sounding just like us. But I guess you could say that Rotersand, Edge of Dawn and, to some degree, Haujobb.

Do you believe there are any new talented artists in the future-pop/ synth-pop scene that could push the scene forward? Could you inform us of any current underground acts from Sweden?

I don’t keep track of the scene, I must admit. But from Sweden there is a lot of interesting electronic stuff coming up, as always. Necro Facility (the band who wrote the original version of “Lightbringer” just released a new album). Another label mate from Progress Records is Kite, I like their stuff a lot. What else… Militant Cheerleaders on the Move. Dupont. The Girl & The Robot (half German, but still). Well, there are plenty of good and original acts from Sweden.

Has the economical crisis reached your country? If so, in what way has it affected your lives?

Not really. Sweden was clever enough not to lock our currency to the euro, which was heavily criticized during the boom of the early 00’s, but it saved us from going down with the rest, once the backlash came. So we felt it, certainly, but very little compared to most of the European Union and certainly not even remotely as bad as it hit Greece. But on a personal level it does affect us, because 95% of our market is outside of Sweden, which means less income as the Swedish crown gets stronger against the euro.

After throwing a glance at your shows’ schedule, I didn’t notice Greece to be included. Are you planning to visit our country any time soon?

As a matter of fact we will perform in Athens, at Gagarin 205, on May 25. I just noticed that it’s not mentioned on our website. I’ll get that fixed right away!

Thank you.

Thank you :)

Christos Doukakis