Interview: Threatpoint

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Alex Olivetti: My earliest memory of music is just being in the car with my parents growing up and hearing whatever they had on the radio. My father plays guitar, so there were guitars hanging around the house, which sparked my initial interest in the instrument.

What do you like to do when your not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Alex: I enjoy watching movies, playing soccer and just hanging out with friends. I enjoy movie scores, especially in the horror genre. I find a lot of the scores really musically interesting and it's helped fuel me to be creative.

How long has your band been around?

Alex: We've been around seven years now.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Alex: We're based out of Scranton, PA. Not sure if the area itself has had an influence on our music per say but there are a lot of talented people and bands in the area, that helps push us to be better and write the best songs we could.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

Alex: We were all just 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. I don't think there's any special meaning behind it, it just sounded cool and in your face haha

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

Alex: My favorite show was back in March 2014, we played Annihilation Fest in Lynchburg, Virginia at a venue called The Schoolhouse. It was literally an old schoolhouse renovated with a stage and professional lighting and sound and it was packed front to back. I'll never forget it, we've made some great friends that day that we are still in touch with to this day. The worst would have to be a bowling alley we played in Pittsburgh back in 2013. They had a makeshift stage setup on the lanes, it was a very interesting setup. The crowd definitely wasn't into it and some members from our band and the other band we played got threatened. Not a fun time.

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

Alex: Oh, that's tough to pick just one. There's a lot of venues that we all enjoy playing at throughout the country. We'd like to make it over to play in Europe, that's the dream.

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?

Alex: I'd just throw a huge festival with all of my favorite bands on it. I'd say Metallica, Trivium, Sevendust, Killswitch Engage, Testament, Paul Gilbert/Racer X, Lamb of God, Annihilator, Tremonti, Alter Bridge and a Shadows Fallreunion.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Alex: Practice, write the best songs you can, keep an open mind to all genres of music and find a group of people who are on the same page as you.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Alex: Try to remember some of the bad shows/experiences and cancel them ahead of time haha There's a lot we've learned along the way, it'd be nice to have the knowledge at the beginning but I also feel those experiences shape us as humans and make us who we are.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

Alex: The Beast Within is the first song we wrote as a band so that one has significance. I'd also say Pave the Way, a lot of people tend to gravitate towards that song and lyrically it's about not following anybody and doing your own thing, which describes our band pretty accurately.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Alex: My favorites to play are Collapse, RIP and Bullet Gone Bye. A lot of people seem to like and yell out Pave the Way at our shows. It's from our first album and people still want to hear it, which is awesome!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Alex: Someone will usually have an initial idea, whether a riff, drum part, bass line or lyrics and we'll just build off of that. We like to jam as a group and toss around a lot of different ideas and see what sounds and works the best for the song. In terms of inspiration, it can be anything; going through different life experiences, listening to our favorite bands and also ourselves, we inspire each other a lot.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Alex: Our singer Chris, who writes all the lyrics, can give you a more definitive answer but overall the songs are about going through life, struggle, hope and spirituality. We try to stay positive lyrically, we make songs that are relatable to anyone for any situation they may be going through.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Alex: We butt heads at times, when that happens we just talk through whatever the issue is and move forward.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

Alex: We recently signed to Voodoo Queen Management, I think we will have some great opportunities on the horizon. We will also be playing Canada for the first time! Our new album Salvation was released back in February, so we'll be pushing the new songs for sure.