Joakim Montelius: We started making music together in the mid-80ies. After playing around in different band-projects for four or five years we started the band at the university. For some strange reasons all of us got the same rooming at our university town. This is how we came together. Actually we turned one bedroom into a studio. And in '92 we realeased our first song on a compilation of a Swedish record label.

MP: But how old were you by then? You look so incredibly young...

JM: I'm 30 years right now... and Clas is 33. So this was when we were 20. Where was I? Right: we were invited to be on this complilation. And after we did the song the record label wanted us to do a complete CD. And of course we said "Yes". So in '94 our first album came out.

MP: You were already friends before the band started?

JM: Oh yes. We know each other since we were 14 or 15...

MP: And how is it to still be together on tour, in the studio?

JM: Really incredibly funny.

MP: Don't you get on each other's nerves?

JM: Yes, we do, but we know how to handle it. I mean, of course there are fights. It's like any kind of relationship - whether its friendship or love - it's the same thing. And being a band and being friends is a very unique combination. I think there are very few bands that are so "friendly" as we are...

MP: So you consider yourselves being in a "team" situation. There is no one saying "I'm the boss"?

JM: Well, we have different responsibilities. Because you have to seperate work and leisure. So Eskil is the singer, he is the musical person, he can play the instruments. Me and Clas - well, I still have problems separating the black and white keys. I'm not very interested in making the notes. I'm more a sound-person. You could say Eskil makes the music and I make the noises. And Clas is somthing like the judge. He comes to the studio and says: "Well, this is not good and this is good." And then we start discussing.

MP: Where do you see your musical roots?

JM: I grew up on hippie music. My mother was a hippie. So I listened a lot to Pink Floyd. But the first time I really got a kick out of music was when I listened to Kraftwerk the first time. I still remember, that I was eight years old at that time. And I was at an auto-museum with my schoolclass. So it must have been '78 or '77, something like that. And video was a very new medium at that time. And there was their video "Radioactivity" playing on a screen. For me it was like "YES! this is how music should sound". I just felt it with all my body. It then took me seven years to understand what kind of music it was. So my deepest impression was Kraftwerk. For Eskil it probabely was Human League. This electronic sound, the New Wave thing in the late 70ies, early 80ies. We were all music freaks since we were kids, we listened to any kind of music. And Eskil's father is also a lover of classical music. He was listening to music 24 hours a day at their house.

MP: So for you it was very clear from the beginning that it will be electronic music...

JM: Yes, definitely! It's on purpose. We chose to make this kind of music because we liked the way it sounded. We didn't chose music just to make music. We wanted to do music in this special way.

MP: Are there differences in the audiences, in their way of responding, of partying?

JM: Small differences, but not very much, not even between Europe and the US.

MP: And as you've been around for quite a while now, have your fans accompanied you in this time? Have they grown with you?

JM: Yes, and it's really cool to come back to Germany for touring. In some places you see faces in the audience that you have seen already several times before. It's like coming back to some friends. You just stay there and say "Hello".

MP: So you have contact with your fans?

JM: Yes, we try (smiles). We do our best. Partying and just talking and having fun. Music is a way of communication and to communicate has a deep meaning of course. So we try do do it as often as possible. Without the audience we would be nothing. It is the audience that makes the band. If nobody would come to the gigs there would be no point doing them.

MP: How do you proceed when you write a song? Do you have a tune or an effect in mind? Is there a feeling you want to express?

JM: Normally we start together. We try to find a loop or some kind of theme - it could be a melody or something sampled. We steal stuff, quite frequently.

MP: But you won't be so clumsy like "The Verve" with this Rolling Stone tune. Get caught with it and paying a fortune in penalties?

JM: No, what they did is copying, that's not stealing (laughs). I don't think anybody would ever recognize anything we have sampled. It is a very good way to get a good idea: to listen to music and say "Yes, this is brilliant, this is great".

MP: So to what kind of music do you listen to right now?

JM: On the bus we listen to "Kellis" and her new album (Note: Smash-hit 'I hat you so much right now') - that's totally cool. Quite a lot of disco music and lots of dance music. It's the most interesting music to listen to as a musician. It's like you get so many new ideas that way. Then Nine Inch Nails and their new album ("Fragile"), TLC, Whitney Houston.

MP: Whitney Houston? Well, that's a bit unusual.

JM: Yes it might be, actually I think drama and sickness can be a lot of help to a band's music. What I can't get to is Jazz and HipHop. Here are things that I have quite some difficulties to understand. I'm a white middle-class guy from Sweden. This is no point from where to understand HipHop. So I'm investigating into this matter. I'm learning how it works (smiles).

MP: Then it's your aim with music to make people dance?

JM: No. We want to make people feel something. Passion, that is.

MP: Is it a fair question to ask you for your favourite song on the new album "United States Of Mind"?

JM: Of course I was there, when it was made. So actually I really love every song on the album. Every song is my favourite, but if it comes to it my very personal favourite is "Still Life".

MP: Is it enough for you to just sell records or does touring also help?

JM: Well, touring is still the main part of our income. Without touring we probabely wouldn't be able to live as we do.

MP: So, can you live from your music or do you need day-jobs?

JM: Me and Eskil are full-time musicians. And Clas is teaching computer networking. He really likes his job and he makes very much money. He likes the idea of having enough money. This is also the reason why Eskil and me do a lot of stuff alone. He really hasn't the time - Clas works like twelve hours a day and that's the way he wanted it. And he is very clever with money. But of course we have a manager. Otherwise it wouldn't work. Making music is teamwork. And living from music is even more teamwork.

MP: How is it for you as a musician with this overwhelming business aspect? Do you feel that you have a good team or did you feel disappointed at some time of your career? You started so very young and there are so many traps for beginners...

JM: Well, I think we have a very big advantage of being so old - and being around for so long. So we never fell in any traps. The team we have is probabely the best in Europe.

MP: And if you win a huge amount of money, would you say "Great, now I can do whatever I want"?

JM: I would do exactly the same thing as I do now - no matter how much money I'd have.

MP: Can't I even tempt you with three wishes? Nothing you would like to have, to achieve?

JM: Hm, my three wishes would be: world peace as numer one. The possibility for time travel, number two. And the third one would be just a pleasant time for everybody. No starvation, no fear.

MP: And if you could underline an existing movie with your music, let's say as soundtrack. What would that be?

JM: A combination of the movies "2001" and that hippie movie with Peter Fonda... oh, yes: "Easy Rider". And "Star Wars" and "The Big Sleep".

MP: How important is it for you to visualize your music on stage? Do you put a lot of care in the band as a live act?

JM: Well, we make all our stuff in the studio. So our music is very technical, very computerized. Because of that we try to do as little as possible when we go on stage. Making an album is six months of work. And it is very, very stressful work. We put all our soul in the new thing. So on tour we try to make it as easy as possible for us. We just put on our suits, press "play" and have fun for one hour.

MP: And how do your see the development in your music from the last album ("Europa") to the new one ("United States of Mind"). What has changed for you? Are you still marching in the same direction?

JM: We have always been in the same direction. We have always been living as fast as we can. Always. But we chose to switch the lanes sometimes. Or to take a step sidewards in the same direction. I mean "United States of Mind" is everything that "Europa" wasn't. We tried to make this record with "Europa", and "Europa" was good. But I think we didn't do it that right. So I definitely think that "United States of Mind" is our version of good pop music in the year 1999.

MP: What do your think about other Swedish bands like Tiamat?

JM: Tiamat are very good. I like them very much, I don't know how old they are but I think they are the same generation as we are. I only met Johan once, at the Zillo festival in Germany, and I think he's very cool. Tiamat is good, because I like their attitude. Swedish people tend to have a very nice open-mindedness about music and stuff in general. And I think that Tiamat is a good example for that because even as they made this satanic metal music they still had this nice attitude. And they are very technical, I think. I read about Johan in a swedish magazine about sound engineering. He is using very high-tech stuff to make his kind of music. And I respect that very much.

MP: What about this MP3 thing? Would you put soundfiles on the internet for free downloads or do you think you have a right to get some money for it as it was your creative effort?

JM: Oh, that's really tricky, I think. Of course we want money for the things we do. If we didn't get any money for it we wouldn't be able to do it. We would have to do something else to pay the rent. So I think the MP3 format is very dangerous for the music business. But then again I think it's valuable because the business is so rotten. I mean all this money - where does it go? It just goes to rich people, making them even richer and richer. So the challenge is very good. The price for CD's is insane!

MP: Yes, thinking about how low the productions costs are...

JM: In fact I spend half my money on buying CD's. It's stupid!

MP: Of course I checked your homepage on the web before the interview. Do you think it is very important for a band to be present like that?

JM: I think the internet is going to be the place of the future, definitely! I mean in reality! It's not only a slogan, it's true! I spend at least a couple of hours a day on the internet. It's just incredible to be in contact with everybody on the whole planet in just a few minutes. It's making the world very much smaller. And speaking of wishes - I think world peace and universal cooperation are going to be very much helped by the internet. I mean: if you have friends all over the place, nobody feels anymore like war.

MP: Joakim, thanks for the interview...

© MEGALOMANIAC PRODUCTIONS 2000 | 04

If you want to check the band's official homepage, you can do it here: http://www.covenant.dk
If you want to contact the band you can email them to this address: info@covenant.dk
If you want to check their record label's homepage direct your browser to this url: http://www.dependent-records.de