Throw away any preconceptions about what a song-driven, active-rock-formatted band can deliver in 2015. Meet Poynte, an Atlanta, GA-based five-piece shattering the notion of cookie-cutter filler amongst such acts, delivering nothing short of unbridled aural excitement, making us more than excited to have them as this week’s Indie Band of The Week!
Poynte laces their attack with equally pronged melodic awareness, atmospheric song development, and infectious hooks that are as addicting as they are steel-toed punch. The band has recently released their first full-length album, Discreet Enemy, following up their 2012 debut EP, One More Day. Poynte bassist Jake O’Donnell recently gave us a straightforward, lighthearted, and informative look at what his band is all about, and what exactly drives their art.
There are subtle shades of melody and aggression within your music, while maintaining a firm melodic structure. How much of that sound was worked on specifically as a band, and how much of it just comes from each of your musical influences?
I like that description and interpretation of our music! As a band, we definitely have found a vein of style and direction that we really love and moves us as a whole. It comes from all different avenues and sources, but ultimately comes together once we all get behind our instruments. Every rehearsal is filled with new ideas being tossed around for not only new songs but interesting twists on old songs to keep things fresh and fun for shows. To be able to say that a specific amount of our sound comes from the whole band vs. individual is tough. Each of our members all enjoy the same spectrum of music but we all bring different, yet familiar styles and influences to the table.
Kenny, our lead vocalist, is a big classic rock fan. He brings that same soul and realism to the mix that gives our sound a very real appeal. Our main rhythm guitar player Matt is a huge driving force in keeping our sound relevant to the times and interesting for the ears. He has a great ear for structure, pacing, and challenging rhythmic parts. I believe he gets that talent from his background in drumming and his love for more modern metal bands.
Then, we have Brett on lead guitar, who is just ridiculously talented and can play anything without even trying, but his heart and background is rooted in your more traditional metal.
Josh, our drummer, comes from a 90s and traditional metal background. Josh and Brett will often get into a riff battle of metal licks “hey man you know this one?” type of thing, and it’s really cool to watch those two go after it. Josh is just insanely good at finding that groove that lights a spark underneath the rest of the music that gives it the perfect amount of character.
And last (but definitely not least) is myself! (laughs) Now I like to think I’m much like our drummer and come from a 90s background but instead of traditional metal; I find myself reverting back to a lot of good classic rock vibes. I like to think I bring a solid mixture of “sexiness” and “ear candy” to the groove. I am not a straight root-note player! So as lengthy as that was, I think every song requires a different mixture of all these elements to create what we do. There is no streamlined formula for it other than always being true and passionate about what we’re creating. No filler or mediocrity here.
How exactly did you all find each other?
It’s been one of those things where everything and everyone fell into place all at the right times. We all have a long history together in the Atlanta music scene and through a natural course of things, as any band and musician goes through, we all found ourselves together and it just clicked and hasn’t stopped since.
You’ve really created a buzz for yourselves on the Atlanta scene. Can you talk a bit what your local scene is like? How are fans and venues as far as supporting original music, locally?
We’ve had some great success here in Atlanta! We definitely cut our teeth here. It’s been a tough road to hoe and we’ve absolutely paid our dues but it certainly has paid off. We’ve gotten to play with some major national acts and developed some great relationships with these venues around town. And it’s all part of putting our nose to the grindstone and really focusing on making sure whatever bill we are a part of becomes an event.
Our fan base knows that when they come to a POYNTE show that it’s not just five guys standing still on stage recreating the album to sonic perfection. We are definitely a live band to see! The support that we’ve received, especially with this new album release, has been incredible and we’re extremely humbled, yet so grateful!
Nick Perri (Silvertide) and Ben Wells (Black Stone Cherry) have gone on record expressing their support for the band. What does that mean to you guys that these types of musicians are showing their love for Poynte?
I mean what do you say to guys like that showing some love!? It’s just incredible!
As a band, getting that kind of response from accomplished professional musicians, who didn’t HAVE to listen to our stuff, and definitely didn’t HAVE to give any kind of feedback…it’s just a huge stamp saying we know we’re on the right track! We’re so appreciative of stuff like that and it honestly means a lot to every person in this band!
POYNTE- Take Control (Official Lyric Video)
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Walk us through the typical Poynte live gig, because it seems you guys are really animals when it comes to expressing yourselves musically on stage.
Oh man! Well the typical POYNTE gig starts LONG before the actual live event itself. We are relentless promotors and like I said, we made the choice a long time ago that we want to have people leaving our show knowing they just saw REAL musicians, playing REAL music, on REAL instruments, pouring out their REAL emotions. We’ve all been to enough concerts to know if a band is just “mailing it in.” POYNTE’s goal live is to make YOU a part of our show and have you leave feeling like you connected with us on a whole new level.
You’ve had some great opening slots for national acts. Any good “rock ‘n roll” stories?
(laughs) I think there may be one or two! Can we talk about them? (laughs) Probably best not to! All I can say is we’ve had some amazing nights and made some incredible memories that we wouldn’t get sitting behind a desk in a suit and tie.
The new record, “Discreet Enemy” is a monster. Tell me about the evolution of the record as far as the writing and recording – how was all of that accomplished?
First off, Thank You!!! With the release happening, it’s still so amazing to hear great feedback on the album. We’ve spent countless hours, money, effort, blood, sweat, and sacrifices to make this album come to fruition. We really feel this is an actual album to be extremely proud of, not 10 – 12 songs thrown on a cd and “see what happens” sort of thing.
It’s especially near and dear to us because we have recorded 90% ourselves. We have our own home studio built from the ground up and it has been such an amazing experience to truly be able to create what WE want and HOW we want. For those parts that we didn’t record ourselves, we have developed long-time relationships with some of the top names in the recording business here in Atlanta. Atlanta is a hip hop-based town, but the people that love to record rock bands all got behind this project and truly helped knock it out of the park. We can’t thank them enough.
Anything off of the album that stands out as particularly memorable, or were there any milestones along the way during the recording that made you say, “Yeah, we’ve really got something special here?”
I can really only speak personally for this one. I remember when I first heard some of the rough mixes on the album come together; my jaw hit the floor. Something we tracked ourselves, our own way, sounding this good? I couldn’t believe it. When I’d demo the album to a few close friends and have them beg for their own copies; it was a pretty surreal experience! It’s be a long time coming for this album and I am just stoked people finally get to experience it themselves now and develop their own relationship with it, just as we have!
You’ve also managed to garner some great endorsements and management. That really speaks to the fact that people are having faith in what you do.
Yeah, I think that goes back to being REAL. Bottom line is if you’re real, true, and passionate about what you’re doing and literally put all you have into, people will take notice.
For me personally, my biggest endorsement is being part of the Spector Bass team. When my bass was finished and ready to be sent to me from their shop in New York, I asked if I could come pick it up instead. So, a friend and I hopped on a plane and took a trip up to the Spector shop and got to take a look around. Mr. Stuart Spector himself handed me my new bass and then took us into his shop and just walked and talked for over two hours with us. It was a really amazing experience and they really could not have been nicer or more friendly and inviting people! That was certainly a proud moment.
What do each of the band members bring to the table – what do you enjoy most about playing with these guys?
Passion. Everyone in this band bleeds passion for making music. Like I said before, everyone has their own personal influences musically, but everyone comes together for the push to make this whole thing happen. Whether it be a long commute to rehearsal, having to spend countless hours designing every last bit of artwork, having to miss out on family time, or whatever, everyone comes together for the same goal and that’s what is amazing about playing with everyone. That team effort of pushing further and further really sparks us all musically and makes playing so much fun and enjoyable.
Certain pockets of the country are somewhat dry when it comes to people really flying the flag for your brand of rock, while other areas remain strong. With album sales at an all-time low, what are your thoughts on people perhaps not responding to great melodic, heavy music the way they once did?
I still think those fans are out there! There is no denying that the “mainstream” has turned toward the lighter and more pop oriented bands. But I know hard rock fans are still alive and well. I feel our genre is still a beast to contend with. I think the digital streaming world has awakened and is SO massive it’s easy to discredit the impact a genre has now a days. Satellite or internet radio is still holding strong in support of good hard rock music and we are so thankful for all the online love we get every single day!
Any closing shots or remarks about anything and everything?
Just true and heartfelt thank-you’s! So many people have helped us along the way and so many fans have remained so loyal over the years! I really can’t express how humble we are for everything we’ve achieved. It’s been a hell of a journey so far and we are ecstatic for the future – we want to continue making real music for real people that spark real emotion. Otherwise, what’s the point?
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By: Mark Uricheck, RockRevolt Magazine Contributor
