We actually spoke to Threatpoint back in 2015, but thought it was time for a catchup. Again, the band threw together a bunch of answers to our BotD questions…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from Scranton, PA in the United States. The band is made up of myself, Alex Olivetti on guitar, as well as CJ Krukowski (drums), Chris Wolynski (vocals) and Matt Van Fleet (bass).
How did you meet?
The band formed in early 2012. CJ and I were in a band that had just broken up and Chris’ band at the time had just broken up as well. We had known each other for a few years since our old bands used to play together. Our bassist Matt is actually the one that told Chris we were looking for a singer, that’s where the initial seed for the band was planted. We’ve had many line-up changes through the years and now Matt is officially a part of the band. It’s very fitting since he’s the one that pretty much put the band together.
How long have you been playing as a band?
It’s been almost five years actually.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We were throwing around ideas, one idea had the word “threat” and another idea had the word “point” in it. So we just decided to combine the two.
What are your influences?
Anything from classic rock to death metal. Mainly bands like Metallica, Testament and Devildriver. We all listen to different styles of music and try to bring in different influences.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Aggressive and groovy. We like to play heavy music but also focus on the groove aspect and keeping the listeners’ heads banging. We try to combine our influences to make our sound a little different than the typical new-age metal band. We don’t want to repeat ourselves and make sure no two songs sound alike on our records.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Trying to stay positive for the most part, there’s too much negativity in the world. We try to make songs that speak to people and give them hope or help them get through a tough situation. We’ve had multiple people tell us that our music has gotten them through any struggles that they have come across. It’s very humbling to hear that as a band and make that kind of impact on people.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We’re energetic and like to get the audience involved, whether it be headbanging or moshing or dancing. We write music that is fun to listen to and fun to play live. Don’t know how many shows off-hand, probably a couple of hundred.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’ve seen a lot of interesting things, haha! First one that comes to mind is Baltimore, MD. We decided to jump off stage in the crowd…our singer was thrown into a wall over a bunch of the other bands’ gear, I was punched in the head and someone fell on stage on our other guitarist’s pedalboard and wires went flying. It was a very intense show.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I play Ibanez guitars, my favorite model is the SZ series which I’ve been using since our first show. I use an array of different guitar amps and pedals. Our bassist plays Warwick basses and Ampeg amps, our drummer uses Tama kits and Meinl cymbals and our singer uses Shure microphones. We are also endorsed by InTune and have signature guitar picks.
What are your plans for 2017?
Taking a little hiatus for the time being and spending time with family and friends. We have a few local gigs booked and will start writing again sometime in the near future.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Wow that’s a tough question. We’ve made great friends with some great bands from our area and all over the country. Since I don’t want to leave out any of our friends bands, for me personally I’d love us to open a show followed by Trivium and then Metallica.
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