Review Fix Exclusive: Threatpoint’s CJ Krukowski Talks RIP And More

Review Fix chats with Threatpoint drummer CJ Krukowski, who discusses the band’s last record, “RIP,” as well as their creative process and goals for 2017.

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

CJ Krukowski: The band formed in early 2012. Me and Alex Olivetti(guitar) were in a band that had just broken up and Chris James’ (vocals) band at the time had just broken up as well. We knew each other for a few years since our old bands used to play together. Our bassist Matt Van Fleet 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 and we all knew each other prior.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Krukowski: We don’t really have a set formula, songs can spark from anyone’s ideas. We’ve had songs start off from guitar riffs, bass lines, drum patterns and even lyrics and a vocal melody. We all bring our ideas to the practice space and work from there. The fact that everyone in the band contributes to the writing process makes it easier to come up with multiple ideas for songs. We put all of our styles and influences in a blender; that’s where the Threatpoint sound comes from.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

Krukowski: Probably the title track from our latest record “RIP.” It’s the first song we wrote together with our current lineup and has everyone’s individual styles and all of the elements that make us excited to write and perform our music.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2017?

Krukowski: Reach out to new audiences, play in some new areas as well hit some areas where we have good followings already. We don’t have a timeline yet but we will probably enter the studio sometime around the summer to start recording our new album.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Krukowski: We write our songs with the live show in mind, we like to be energetic on stage and have the audience get into it as well, it creates a great vibe. We like to see people headbanging, moshing, dancing and singing along. It’s also great to hear back from fans and friends that our songs helped them through a difficult time; we focus more on the positive aspect rather than the negative with the lyrical content.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Krukowski: We are currently working on new material for our forthcoming album. We’re also coming off of a hiatus and are about to start playing live again.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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