Interviews

GFN:

Introduce yourself and please tell me what your job is as a member of the band.

Joakim:

My name is Joakim Montelius, I play with the band Covenant and I make noise ;-) and write the lyrics.

GFN:

With the same members?

Joakim:

Yes.

GFN:

Where did the name Covenant come from? Or why that name?

Joakim:

The idea itself came from the bible. The Ark of Covenant is the thing were giving the law by god. Covenant means "Contract". And that is what we did. Covenant is our Contract.

GFN:

I read an analogy to the three Musketeers… One for all and all for one.

Joakim:

Yes, that means the same thing.

GFN:

: Soon your new album will be released… I think it differs from the older ones.

Joakim:

(laughs) Yes, of course that's the whole idea…

GFN:

To make something new?

Joakim:

Yes, we try to do that everytime. When you make music, you try to react on what is going on in your life. To get back to your backround, your website… If we would have children we would try to "make" them as good as possible. But we don´t. To us music is like our children.

GFN:

Is there a message in your songs?

Joakim:

No. Every song is like an individuum. Just like humans. The general idea of everything, what we ever did is to work with the stuff that happens to us.

GFN:

Is the project Covenant very successful or do you still have ordinary jobs?

Joakim:

Me and Eskil are full-time musicians. We additionally have some other projects. Clas ist working as a computer-technician. But we needn´t. The band earns enough for us to live from it.

GFN:

What is your favorite music you private listen?

Joakim:

Mhmmm. It changes all the time but in the moment I think I hear the alternative country music "16 Horsepower/Woven Hand" it's a kind of Gothic-Country-Music. It's a brilliant band. There is also a lot of other music I like. Music is inspiring.

GFN:

Is music from other musicians inspiring you?

Joakim:

No, we are only inspired by the machines that allow us to express ourselves.

GFN:

GFN is a website about Goths with Kids, Gothicfamilys. Do you already have children, or do you want to have kids in the future?

Joakim:

(laughs very loud) No, I do not have any kids. None of us have. I am pretty sure that the other members of the band, Clas and Eskil, will have childen in the future. I can´t say that I will have never childen but currently I won´t have kids.

GFN:

But it´s possible?

Joakim:

Yes, of course. I went together with my girlfriend for sixteen years. So we are basicly like married. But we don´t have any children. It is a choice what you have to do in your life. If you want to have children, I think it´s very important to focus on them and try to do the best as possible for them. But actually I am too much an egomaniac. I know that I´m a workaholic. I work all the time and travel a lot. My children would not be happy with the position I have right now. But maybe. Who knows….

GFN:

You and Clas live in Helsingborg, Eskil in Berlin. Is that a problem when you work on an new album? A few years ago you lived in Barcelona. How does it work?

Joakim:

That is no problem for us. In the age of computers and internet is that not difficult. Our Studio is in Sweden, in Helsingborg and before it´s released we meet there and work together.

GFN:

Do you learn something before Covenant?

Joakim:

Yes we have studied. I am a archaelogist, Eskil is a atomic physicist and Clas is a computer engineer.

GFN:

Thank you for coming. I´ill see you again in February on your concert. I´m curious about it.

Joakim:

I hope you´ll enjoy it... So long, bye.