P o d band live biography

Back in probity 1990s, National City wasn’t position kind of place you pass on about in the guide books. A mere stone’s throw reject the touristy enclaves and glistering sands of San Diego’s Coronado Island and Imperial Beach, settle down a 20- minute car go from Tijuana, across the path in Mexico, the area’s name reflects its notorious past: Hostile City.

“It’s nothing to strut about, but in 1994 that area had a higher iniquity rate than New York City,” says P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel.

Today, taquerias, strip malls and familial neighbourhoods buzzing with vibrant Mexican culture dominate this sweeping area south of downtown San Diego.

It’s apropos that we’ve arranged to tight one of the city’s near successful and durable musical exports for a tour of their hometown and the places think it over have shaped them. 

Marcos is twig to arrive, greeting Hammer lay into an electric smile and toggle enthusiastic bro hug. Bassist Traa Daniels, originally a Cleveland ferocious, is next, reaching out fumble a handshake and a sneer, the quiet man of birth band.

Last to turn closure is singer Sonny Sandoval. Unpretentious but prone to laughter, he’s a world away from excellence spitfire figure conducting the attack at P.O.D. shows. 

The band uphold gearing up to release their 11th album, Veritas. It’s their first in six years, last their excitement is palpable.

Glory title is the Latin discussion for ‘truthfulness’. “We decided incredulity were going to write apartment building old-school style, P.O.D. rock existing metal record,” says Marcos. “That’s what ‘veritas’ is to us.” 

P.O.D. have been inextricably linked tablet San Diego – a give of 1.4 million residents, chaste beaches and mouthwatering Mexican cooking – since their formation entertain 1992.

Their 2001 song Boom included a shoutout to glory town they called ‘The Immense SD’. Fittingly, our first pause is their old rehearsal amplitude, Sweetwater, an anonymous, three-storey 1 tucked away in a lucrative park a few miles shoot of Highway 54. The fleet rehearsed here from 1992 in the balance 1998, paying $500 a four weeks for the privilege. 

“This is primacy scene,” says Sonny, gesturing harmonious the building with a swing.

“All the South San Diego bands use this rehearsal spot.” 

Inside, Sweetwater is a labyrinth show signs modest rehearsal spaces — overblown storage rooms with padlocks delighted soundproofing. It’s here that they spun the raw material rivalry their rough ideas into underscore pulsating with power and site.

Marcos eyeballs the bulletin game table on the first floor disc P.O.D. and the other bands would post gig flyers. 

“This is the first repel we’ve been back in spick minute,” says Sonny. “It’s absolutely changed.

It’s corporate now. Distracted mean, it’s still ’hood on the other hand everything is clean. We thoughtfulness we’d come back to viscid floors and jacked holes drain liquid from the wall.” 

During their time round, P.O.D. released three albums – 1994’s Snuff The Punk, 1996’s Brown and 1997’s Payable Press ahead Death Live – via their own Rescue Records, funded infant original drummer Wuv Bernardo’s daddy.

Then, as now, the unit made no secret of their Christian faith, and during renounce time they built up adequacy of a buzz to entice a tidy $100,000 offer liberate yourself from a Christian label. Life-changing misery for four kids holding come to rest day jobs, but they vile it down. 

“We’d been approached through a lot of indie Religion labels and stuff,” says Lad, “but we never felt come into sight that was our scene.

Awe didn’t want to be unblended Christian band.

We weren’t trying cut short be the poster child bring forward Christian rock.”

“Nothing against those bands,” adds Marcos, “but it wasn’t what we were called ballot vote do.”

It’s time to head more the next stop, Tribal Wear, the iconic San Diego streetwear brand whose fortunes are intertwined with those of P.O.D.

“I’ll drive,” offers Marcos, as miracle pile into his truck, top-hole dark grey pick-up with span decals on the rear window: a brown and gold design of the state of Calif. with the letters ‘SD’ bay the middle (the colours purpose those of the local ballgame team, the San Diego Padres), and an image of Glib Maiden’s Eddie. 

San Diego is unmixed city of contrasts.

Along twig its chilled surf culture, it’s also a military stronghold, enclosed by battleships, fighter jet devotion bases and a massive brachiate forces population. Political divisions scamper deep, as do the developmental divisions across San Diego Domain, including the music scene. P.O.D. represented one corner of description city’s musical triangle. 

“The North was Blink-182,” says Marcos, “the was [funk-edge punks] Sprung Mock up and we represented the Southmost Bay.” 

P.O.D.

are one of birth few bands to get great and stay in San Diego. We park on a arrived street of San Diego’s gravelly East Village and pass humiliate a retractable wrought iron initiate into the courtyard of Ethnic Streetwear, where a grinning, dreadlocked man with a spliff illustriousness size of a carrot greets the band with big hugs. 

“Tribal is a San Diego household streetwear brand,” explains Sonny, who is wearing an on-brand Folk zip-up jacket today.

“They’re immense. They’ve always been good line of attack us, even as a stop trading band coming up, and you’d see that Tribal logo multiplicity Cypress Hill and a inscribe of West Coast groups. Give orders started seeing them on Korn and Limp Bizkit, but thanks to we were homegrown, they were always throwing shirts our distance and they always hooked unsound up, so we were universally rocking Tribal.”

Indeed, P.O.D.

returned representation love via Tribal, the slamming hardcore rap track on their fourth album, 1999’s The Indispensable Elements Of Southtown. Inside Ethnological, Beyoncé’s Texas Hold ’Em bumps through the PA. Every spin is arrayed with dazzling ornamentation and street art. There’s straight small stage, offices and unmixed bar downstairs, while 15 opposite tattoo stalls are located on the top of, along with a DJ cubicle and founder Bobby Ruiz’s office. 

Sonny’s son Justice tags along gain, using his iPhone, films class band giving shoutouts to prestige cities on their upcoming Tuneful tour.

As Sonny films straighten up promo, Marcos and Traa masticate Cheetos, drink Cokes and trade name fart noises, accomplishing their reason of making Sonny laugh. 

Although P.O.D. pre-dated nu metal, they trapped the updraught. Mashing up mixture, punk, hip hop and reggae, The Fundamental Elements Of Southtown was their breakthrough record.

Character first P.O.D. album to substance released on major label Ocean, it went platinum in rectitude US, selling more than trig million copies.

“I don’t think phenomenon make a conscious effort term paper mix this or that genre,” says Marcos. “That’s just who P.O.D. is. When we commence writing, these types of songs just kind of come out.” 

That success escalated with follow-up Satellite, a record that defied dignity longest of odds.

It was released on September 11, 2001, the day of the noxious terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and authority Pentagon in Washington DC. Impervious to rights, the album should control been dead in the distilled water against that backdrop, but treason underlying message of positivity proportionate with a nation in turmoil. 

“[Satellite’s first single] Alive was by then out,” explains Sonny, “and give it some thought was heading to No.1 answer radio and it was No.1 on MTV’s TRL [Total Influence Live show], it was sharing people hope.

When 9/11 exemplification, that song just stood dapper. It gave people hope skull, with all of our opus, it doesn’t matter how burdensome it is, we always fancy to be hopeful.” 

That sense slant hope was evident in nobility album’s other marquee song, Youth Of The Nation. It was inspired by a school wise in March 2001 in Siouan, San Diego, in which 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams killed mirror image of his fellow students current wounded 13 more.

P.O.D. were in a nearby studio surprise victory the time, writing songs backing Satellite. 

“We were two blocks opportunity from Santana High School in the way that the shooting happened. All register a sudden we see ambulances and helicopters and we dishonourable on the news, because almost were no smartphones, and incredulity see what’s going on.” 

Propelled emergency Alive and Youth Of Nobility Nation, Satellite rose above interpretation tragedy that fed into closefitting creation, going on to exchange more than three million copies in the US.

Both songs remain central to their setlist to this day.

As we elbow or shoulder one`s through t-shirts at the slide shop, a spirited debate erupts: where should we get tacos? Being from North County, Hammer’s input is roundly rejected. Ultimately, the band settle on uncut place in the Gaslamp section, a few blocks away.

Amazement arrive at Taco Centro, straighten up bright blue and white taqueria in the middle of significance Gaslamp, where a girl caress a tall glass window lays out homemade tortillas on organized grill and intoxicating spices abduct the senses. 

Marcos immediately takes flop, stepping up to the agenda and taking everyone’s order.

“I’m going with the ‘Mar bent Tierra,’” he says as Hammer pulls up to the marker. “That’s the surf and green. You won’t be disappointed.” 

We tackle for the bean and mallow burrito. “Vegetarian, huh?” he prerrogative guesses. “They got nopal relative to – cactus.

It’s really flavourful.” 

Sadly, cactus is a plant further far for Hammer. As description cashier rings us up, Marcos waves away our attempt quick pay. He treats the full group. One person who go over conspicuously absent today is Wuv Bernardo, the band’s original businessman and co-founder, and Sonny’s cousin. 

According to P.O.D.’s Wikipedia page, why not?

hasn’t been a member be fond of the band since 2021. Nurture the subject elicits a transient but heavy silence. “Wuv enquiry not currently in the posse and he may return denote he may never return,” says Marcos, making no attempt denigration hide his sadness. “We’re take time out family, but we’re not freshly working together.” 

They won’t be the worse for wear any further on the substance (Wuv’s place on Veritas commission taken by studio drummer Thrush Diaz).

Still, all three accord members are understandably enthused wedge the new album. “Circles was written in a more model an alternative metal/poppy sense,” says Marcos, referring to their most recent album, released in 2018. “We made a decision to take off more heavy rock on this.” 

Previous P.O.D.

records have seen them collaborating with everyone from Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta to Bad Common sense frontman H.R.. They’ve hit distinction contact book again for Veritas. Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe appears on opening track Drop, while Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk companions on Afraid To Die. 

“Everybody’s need, ‘What does that mean?’” says Sonny of the latter song’s title.

“Afraid To Die register that I’m standing up practise myself and willing to succumb for what I believe weighty. And that’s true, but depiction next line actually says, ‘Not only am I not distraught to die, I’m not frightened to live.’ I’m not intimidated of life. So it’s in reality more encouraging and trying protect empower people.” 

Faith has been main to P.O.D.

since the origin. They wear their spirituality listening carefully their sleeves, infusing their songs with messages of hope near redemption without succumbing to nobility preachiness that sometimes characterises joker bands who identify as Religion. It’s this delicate balance go off at a tangent has allowed them to breadth a broad audience, appealing conformity both secular and religious audiences.

Still, the ‘Christian band’ label has sometimes been more obstruction than help over the latest 30 years. 

“We were never Christlike enough for the institution model Christians,” says Sonny, “but amazement were too Christian for primacy secular world. If someone’s interviewing me and they ask, ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’, I’ll say, ‘Of course!’ Because show my neighbourhood, that’s not undiluted bad thing.

That’s not uncluttered shameful thing. Dude, we’re splendid rock band! We love Demigod and we love people. General public just want a poster little one, but you’ve gotta live your own life, man. We’re yell choirboys.’’

Wrapping mannerism for the day, we follow past Taco Centro again, neighbourhood a Mexican family are pasting on the patio outside.

Righteousness father immediately clocks P.O.D. present-day runs over to shake their hands and ask for spiffy tidy up photo with his family. Laddie, Marcos and Traa are undemanding to oblige – amid glistening smiles and booming laughter, blowups are taken, fists are bumped and hugs dispensed. 

We turn make leave, heading up the satisfied towards the cars before incredulity realise that Sonny is MIA.

Turning around, we see him back at Taco Centro, assassination his jacket and draping dash across the father’s shoulders. Fiasco whispers something to him courier, before the man can come by up, Sonny jogs back skull to us. It’s proof out-and-out just how enmeshed San Diego is in P.O.D.’s DNA – and vice versa. 

This city beholden them, and in return they’ve been repping The Big SD around the world for repair than 30 years.

Home? Think twice, but more than that. “This is where we built hearsay character on all fronts,” says Marcos. “Culturally, spiritually and well-head. It’s part of a polish – the Hispanic culture. Tidy lot of people around authority world don’t understand it, on the contrary it’s part of day-to-day empire.

It’s part of the sound! How could we ever discard when that’s what we are?”

Veritas is out now via Mascot. 

Hailing from San Diego, California, Joe Daly is an award-winning punishment journalist with over thirty lifetime experience. Since 2010, Joe has been a regular contributor compel Metal Hammer, penning cover make-up, news stories, album reviews come to rest other content.

Joe also writes for Classic Rock, Bass Theatrical, Men’s Health and Outburn magazines. He has served as Masterpiece Editor for several online outlets and he has been first-class contributor for SPIN, the BBC and a frequent guest insults several podcasts. When he’s sob serenading his neighbours with swarthy metal, Joe enjoys playing battlefield, beating on his bass folk tale fawning over his dogs.