Eskil Simonsson of Covenant
Clas Nachmansson of Covenant
Clas, Eskil, Joakim
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Covenant, the Northern Light?
Swedish "synth"-giants Covenant are finally back with a new full length album, "Northern Light" and
an extensive European tour. The first single, "Call the Ships To Port" has been very successful all over
Europe. So we caught up with Joakim Montelius of the band to hear him describe the sweet taste of success.
- Right now, everything feels great. The new album is finished and we will soon start touring. I
couldn't be happier.
Why did you choose to use Jakob Hellner as a producer when recording "Northern Light"? I mean,
on the other albums you've done everything yourselves.
- We felt that we had reached a point where it was difficult to be more varied. Especially when it
comes to building sounds and the vocal structure. It felt like the best thing to do was to try to
work with a producer to see how it would work out. It was actually our new record company that suggested that we maybe should use a producer. We soon realised that it was impossible to use these big time producers like Brian Eno and Flood, well, all our big heroes. We suggested them to the record company but soon got a reply where they said that those guys didn't exactly fit in the budget. So, we got Jakob Hellner instead. I was a bit sceptic
because I don't really think that Rammstein are that exciting, but then I found out that he had also
produced Fläskkvartetten and a lot of less known acts that I really like. Suddenly, the whole thing became
a lot more interesting. We had a meeting with him where we sat down and talked during an entire
evening and it was very positive. After this we felt that Jakob was an obvious choice to produce our
new album. It's also very comfortable to use a Swedish producer because the communication becomes
much easier. It was a strike of genius really and I'm very pleased with his work.
When I listened to the new album I thought I heard a lot of Depeche Mode influences, especially from
the "Ultra" album, am I way out of line there?
- No, I don't think you are. It's probably more a consequence of the way of production than the song writing itself. For one thing we used a live drummer which of course Depeche also did when they recorded "Ultra". It gives a more warm and human dimension that probably weren't there on our earlier albums. That's a reference that I truly stand for! It was probably not our intention,
Depeche has not been such an obvious influence for us, but you can't escape the fact that they make really good music, so...
Besides Depeche Mode, any other influences when making "Northern Light" that weren't there before?
- There are a lot. We listen to a lot of different music. But the whole wave of so called "synth-core" bands such as Ladytron and Miss Kittin have influenced the album a bit. We actually became aware of those bands in the middle of recording the album, but the influences are there. Besides from that kind of music it's mostly classic pop music and also Bruce Springsteen actually. There's a lot of non electronic stuff and more classic music that has had a big role in the studio.
How do you work in the studio? Do all three of you take part in the recording?
- No, this album was made in four steps. Eskil wrote the first four or five tracks in Berlin. He wrote the lyrics and made the music and had that done when he came to Sweden. We went through the material together and then, we rented a house in Denmark in the middle of nowhere where Eskil and myself sat down and wrote the music. After that, we went to the studio in Stockholm and recorded the album. We
actually brought along all our computers and synthesizers to the studio which was very convenient.
Most people see you as a "synth" band, is that something you feel is positive or is it a mark that you
which to get away from?
- I don't know if it is an advantage, but I really don't give a shit. We make "synth" music because we think it's fun, so we are definitely a "synth" band. I don't understand why one should try to hide what you are. I mean, "synth" music has been unpopular in the mainstream for the last fifteen years or so, and all of a sudden it's a big thing. You hear about people you know that has always denied being a "synth" band but
now wants to be one because it's considered to be cool. The biggest evidence that "synth" is a big thing now is probably the release of mainstream collections such as "Absolute Synth" where they try to make money out of the old acts from the eighties. You can just hope that the old fogeys from back then gets some money out of the deal too...
Are you anxious to start the touring now after so much studio work?
- Yes we really are. We will play a festival in Holland that will be like a sneak beginning of the tour, but the official premiere will be at the Tinitus festival in Stockholm. Opening acts during the Europe tour will be Seabound from Germany and our Swedish partners Dupont.
Will it be the same show as it was this summer or will there be anything new?
- We are hoping for something completely new actually, and we are hoping to get the money to pay for the whole thing. We are going to have a new system that makes it possible to synchronize images and music. We are also going to have a brand new stage scenery, which will make the stage more like in a theatre.
We want to have a more flexible background with lights that makes it more visual instead of just going
with the same old stuff where you just use a big video screen. We want it to be more like a real scene.
So if we manage to pull this together then it will be excellent, I can promise you that.
Have you made any videos for any of the songs of the album?
- Yeah we did a video for "Bullet" in Berlin in August, and it was one of Germany's biggest video production companies that made it. They have actually also made videos for Rammstein. And if that weren't enough, the person who made the album cover has also worked with Rammstein. I got a bit worried a while that people would associate us with them. But I guess that is a pretty small chance, it's probably so that they are very good at choosing competent people to work with. When you scratch the surface on Rammstein you realize that they do everything very carefully and everything has to be just perfect. Anyway, I hope that the video will be shown a lot. I'm not sure however if Swedish television will show it, it depends on Sony. That whole thing is a bit unfortunate really, because we are dealing with
Sony in Germany, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Sony in Sweden will release it. However, I sure hope that they will.
It seems that there are a huge interest in vinyl records these days. Joakim tells me more about the special vinyl edition.
- The double LP has four bonus tracks; "Don't Go" made by Eskil, two
remixes of "Bullet" made by Eskil and myself and also the club version of "Call the Ships To Port". It was actually ka2 that suggested the whole thing and I have to mention that the whole dialogue with them has been excellent. They get things done quickly and they are very positive towards our ideas, so the whole thing feels very good. By the way, the CD will also be released as a limited digipack.
Can you live off the music now days?
- Yeah, Eskil and me do. Clas enjoys his work so much so he still does that. He works as a consultant for a big computer company where he teaches people and so on, and he really likes it. In addition, I'm sure that he enjoys
all the money he makes.
How long do think that you can go on doing what you do?
- I think we will do this as long as we have the strength. I mean, touring and stuff like that are really fun, but it is possible that we will slow down on that part in the future as it's also very toilsome. We have never felt that we don't have anything more to give, but on the other hand, nothing says that we won't maybe change our music style in the future. That's not something you can predict. But we also have some side projects of course. Eskil has worked with Aaron Sutcliffe for instance and I have made a lot of weird ambient industrial music that I don't think anyone wants to hear. I can assure you though,
that you won't get rid of us that easily.
/Mattias Andersson
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