On June 16th – 18th of 2016, The COVENANT Festival takes place in Vancouver B.C. for it’s second year straight. I thought that the first year was off of the chain, but this year’s line up makes this one of the strongest fests to take place on the West Coast. CVLT Nation decided to talk to the humans behind The COVENANT to find out why they do what they do…Tickets for this year’s fest can be bought HERE, and make to check out the line up because it’s way beyond INSANE!
How did The Covenant collective come together?
This had been something that was percolating for several years beforehand. We had always wanted to better unify the music that drives us under one banner. It started off in a few loose forms; The Covenant vinyl nights, Under The Spell post-industrial/goth nights, and Congregate events promoting such shows as Antediluvian, Impiety, and Absu.
Eventually, the time was right, the motivation was there, and the bands were right to do the first Covenant Festival. We’re a DIY collective, so each contributor plays a big role. Yourselves included.
Talk to us about last year’s festival – did it all go according to plan, or did it surpass your expectations?
It definitely surpassed expectations, and yet it was still a learning experience. Managing a big budget, multi-venue shows, and 20 bands is something we’re still adapting to, but we’re enjoying the experience.
I’m blown away by how well curated The Covenant Fest is…What’s the process like when it comes to choosing the bands that are going to perform?
We want to put on what we want to see, and we want to see all the music brought together by a mutual egregore. There is a profound spirit in each band that plays Covenant, whether they play death metal, black metal, harsh noise, traditional metal, doom, neo-folk or beyond. Everything that plays Covenant must contain within it that certain spirit, and must do their all to exalt it. We don’t attempt to make that hidden.
Does the fact that the members of The Covenant collective are artists and musicians impact the way you treat the bands who participate in the fest?
Definitely. We know what realistic treatment to expect as artists is (you can view that either way…), and we want all the bands to enjoy themselves as much as the attendees.
From an outsider looking in, I see unity as a big factor in how the Vancouver Underground scene is coming together. Can you expand on how important it is for you to work with other promoters in the city?
We’re a small, passionate team. We’re extremely driven, but we rely greatly on the support of other like-minded individuals, such as CVLT Nation, to make a festival like ours happen. Everyone plays their part.
In an ideal world, where do you see The Covenant Fest in 5 years?
As an ever-expanding mass of ecstatic people flocking to the high-mass of possessed musicians!
At the end of The Covenant II, what feeling do you want those who attended to walk away with?
More importantly than how I hope people feel, I hope that they found what they are looking for. Such should be a goal in a genre of music that provides a means of escapism from the mundane and the casual.
I know that money is not the driving force behind what you are trying to achieve – so what is?
I feel like I have given an indication of that in the previous questions. It is difficult to not come across as pretentious when one says something like this in a text interview, but I mean it with great sincerity when I state that putting on Covenant is part of a greater work for those of us closely involved. We want to put on a display of music that helps people escape from the chains of restriction. We want to lift spirits. Anything else is a waste of time.
