Interview with P.O.D. vocalist Sonny Sandoval

P.O.D. of Southtown, San Diego is back in business and ready to rock with their recognizable, lyrical hooks and infectious bassy rhythms. I spoke with lead vocalist Sonny Sandoval recently about the band’s return to the music scene, faith as the basis for music and much more. Enjoy!

There’s been a lot happening over the past few years, so let’s start with the most recent news: the new album Murdered Love. How does it feel to be back on the scene, in terms of album releases?
Sonny: It feels good! We decided to get back together, to make the record we wanna make, y’know? I think now, we just kinda feel like the underdogs, trying to get back up and move forward. We’re all just excited to get back to playing live shows; I think that’s where we shine, at our live shows. We’re doing it because we love to do it.

You mentioned being the underdogs – is there a reason for that? Do you think that maybe because of the hiatus, you kinda had to start from scratch or something?
Sonny: Yeah, I think when you take that much time off as a band, there are gonna be repercussions – we’re not putting out records, making the radio charts. Not keeping up with the times and all that is going to affect you. We went into it knowing that, but as a band, we had to continue to make music for the love of it. You gotta just get out there and keep playing.

What was the reason behind wanting to take a break from everything?
Sonny: We’d been a band for over 20 years, been through so many ups and downs, and done stuff independently and through major labels. We’d gone across the world playing shows, and we made money doing that. After a while, you need the time to figure out who you’ve become or where your life’s at. We were so busy with music that we needed to take a step back and put things in perspective, y’know, get our priorities straight. For me, I wanted to come home; being a husband and daddy comes first before music.

I can really respect that. I mean only imagine how taxing it can be to be away from your family for most of the year on tour. So, the meaning behind Payable On Death has always been one of my favorite things about the band – you have great songs that talk about changing the world, believing in love, drawing inspiration to live. For Murdered Love, what’s the story behind that album title?
Sonny: When we started Payable On Death, we were young kids at the time. It’s a religious term, y’know, when someone passes on, what they leave behind – we’ve always related that to our faith in Christ. We believe in faith in the ultimate sacrifice for sin and doing that, we have redemption. So that’s the pathway to our music. “Murdered Love” is a very similar concept – it started out with the song “The Day We Murdered Love” which was based on the idea that the moment Christ was crucified, how dark, how somber and sad it was. The earth quaked, the sky went black. It’s talking about desperation for the people who believed in him, just the anguish that must’ve been felt. Y’know, just the idea that we crucified the Savior of the world; we murdered… love!

Check out the the making of “Lost In Forever”

Man, that’s amazing! Yeah, I was also just thinking, like even from the Passion of the Christ, despite whatever physical anguish Jesus went through, the moment when he said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, the moment of separation from God was the worst part, and that’s the true consequence of sin. It’s definitely interesting to look at it from a different perspective.
Sonny: Yeah, yeah! When you believe in scripture and you believe in God, there’s this perfect communication, perfect love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and you just watch the earth, how corrupt it is – when you put that on itself, and you see how much the Father still loves us, it’s interesting to think of how alone even Christ must’ve felt (at the Passion). I think a lot of people feel that way – they feel so alone, like they’ve been abandoned by love and righteousness, and it’s scary. No one wants to be in that place.

You’ve had some lineup changes in the past. Jason Truby (guitarist) definitely brought in a very different vibe. Pertaining to the last album and this one, what’s it been like to have Marcos (Curiel, guitarist) back in the band?
Sonny: We’ve been together for several years, I mean, we’re all brothers, we fight like brothers and we make up like brothers. That was just such a crazy time in all our lives – if anything, it’s a sign of redemption and reconciliation because we were like, we don’t even care about the industry anymore. The industry has torn others apart, and all we work hard to do is to make music and have fun. Backstabbing and lying and corruption – we had all those years, but we came back together because we love each other. I’m all about my friends; I’m all about my brothers. So we put all that behind us and we said we’d just move forward. He (Marcos) decided he was ready to move on as well. He decided to go back home to his family. So it just worked out. Here we are, still hustling, y’know?

That’s what’s up! Do you guys still keep in touch with Jason?
Sonny: Yeah! I’ve been doing interviews all day, but he just called him so once I’m done with this, I’ll be calling him back. He’s involved with this adoption charity – he’s doing a record for them and doing guest vocals, doing a lot of great stuff for these children.

That’s really awesome. Okay, a lot of your lyrical themes come from your life experiences. Could you share a little bit on your spiritual journey and how that’s tied in with your music? Where do your musical ideas come from?
Sonny: For me, I’m not this poetic guy that walks around with a journal and writes down all my thoughts – I wish I was! [Laughs] But I don’t do that. I’m always in the moment, I don’t think too far ahead; I just appreciate the moment that I have. So whenever we write a record, it really is in the moment, not something that happened 20 years ago. It’s all about what’s going on at the time, and I don’t put myself in anyone else’s shoes. I just wanna be hopeful in all the situations I know, regardless of who you are; I think that God is love and love is what gives us peace in our soul.

It’s definitely a gift to be able to use your experiences as fodder for music. You guys are Christians, but do you identify yourselves as a Christian band?
Sonny: No… I can’t describe Christianity – I believe in Jesus. If you wanna call that Christianity, I hope we’re all on the same page as to what that means, y’know? I believe He’s my Savior and He died on the cross for my sins. I’ve never said “we’re a Christian band” because I never market my faith. I didn’t know there was Christian music and Christian venues – it’s a huge industry! We never wanted to market our faith, be like “Hey, we should get to play shows because… we’re Christians!” I’d rather play a bar or pub for free for 50 people than get paid to play for huge Christian festivals for thousands and thousands of people, for thousands and thousands of dollars. We’re not just trying to entertain everybody. I would rather play for that 50 people that stay through and say at the end, “I liked what you said, man, I took that to heart.” So, that’s my personal conviction.

We’ve never really been accepted by this so-called Christian community – we were too heavy, we had tattoos, we never really fit the stereotype. I mean, we still have people going, “Oh, it’s that Christian band playing” but they have to stop being so close-minded. It’d be better to like “Hey, they make good music” instead of “Oh, it’s that Christian band”. I listen to all kinds of music but I also have the freedom and the brains to think for myself what I wanna digest, what I wanna believe in. Stand up for what you believe in, y’know? It’s better than bashing bands for not having the same views. And if people want to know Jesus, they have to open up their bibles and get to know Him from scriptures before they define other Christians too.

Yeah, I think a lot of people are confused about that, because if you, y’know, Google or Wikipedia P.O.D., it’s says “A Christian rap-rock band” and all that. But it’s like you said, you guys have never really gotten that “acceptance” into the stereotypical Christian band category, probably because of the tattoos, or because you don’t explicitly say Jesus in your songs, or whatever else. I agree with the fact that you shouldn’t have to put a label on it. I mean, if you believe Christ’s love is supposed to be a verb, then it should come out in your music and you shouldn’t have to say “we’re a Christian band”.
Sonny: Yeah! If you work for the city, and you pick up trash, you don’t say you’re a “Christian garbage collector”. Or if I’m a bus driver for the public school, I wouldn’t say I’m a “Christian bus driver”. It’s not a category or career, y’know what I mean? It should come out in everything you say, in the way you treat someone; it should come out in whether you’re honest… on your taxes. [Laughs] It should come out in giving somebody your last two dollars. It should come out because of the love you have as a person. I don’t just wear a Christian mask – if anything, I’m taking that off because… I don’t know what that means anymore. But I know that Jesus said if you love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and you spread that love to your neighbors, if you can follow those two rules, this would be a much better world.

That’s excellent! When you left Atlantic Records, it was a huge move for listeners everywhere. How has this signing with Razor & Tie been working out so far?
Sonny: It’s been amazing. They call themselves a label, but they identify with the band, in putting out music. The overall goal is to put out quality music, get it out there, sell music and share whatever profits there are, what they get paid back. They believe in us. A lot of labels nowadays, they want your soul. So, we’re grateful.

You’ve featured a lot of people in your records. A lot of them, I actually first knew from your records – people like Katy Perry, Matisyahu, and even on the last album, Mike from Suicidal Tendencies. Any collaborations on this upcoming album, Murdered Love?
Sonny: Yeah! On the song “Eyez” we have Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed.

Hatebreed? Wow, I completely missed that! That’s cool.
Sonny: Yeah! Anyone can just go to over to our website and click to get a free download. We brought our friend Sick Jacken who was on the Testify tracks “Mark My Words” and the one with Boo Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (“On The Grind”) – he’s on the title track, “Murdered Love”.

Definitely something to look forward to!

Check out the song: “Lost In Forever (Scream)”