P.O.D. play M15 Sep. 25; photo-Chapman Baehler
P.O.D. followup their recent SoCal August shows with one at M15 on Sep. 25 , before joining the Insane Clown Posse tour in October.
While P.O.D. have been labeled a Christian band by many publications, its members, Sonny Sandoval (vocals), Marcos Curiel (lead guitar), Traa Daniels (bass) and Wuv Bernardo (drums), claim they never set out to be the poster-children for Christian rock.
“We’ve always been open about our faith and who we are, but we’re not here representing any religion,” Curiel said. “We don’t have an agenda to try and go save the world. We’re here to shed a little light in the darkness amongst all the negative stuff going on in the world.”
The positive vibes have been felt not only within the U.S. but in countries across the world including England, Germany, Brazil and Russia.
“The U.S. is just a little piece of the pie. From the very beginning we always made a point to be a worldwide entity,” Curiel said. “We told ourselves, ‘Let’s travel around the world and play our tunes for everybody’. We’ve always stuck to that game plan and it’s paid off.”
The band’s latest album The Awakening, revolves around a central character who has his own “awakening”, allowing him to discover the value of love and forgiveness. An ongoing dialogue precedes each track, providing context for the character’s journey.
Although the group had toyed with a concept album before, it wasn’t until the urging of producer Howard Benson that the band became committed to the idea.
“We wanted it to possibly be something that we did in the future but our producer was like, ‘No, let’s do it now and get it on this record.’ He started wrapping our heads around the whole concept and we began writing songs for it while trying to keep that P.O.D. sound,” Curiel added. “It’s something people aren’t going to expect from this type of band and that’s why we did it. It was a challenge for us so we figured, why not?”
The band found themselves facing a particularly arduous challenge after the release of their last album Murdered Love. On the final track of the record, the F-word was used multiple times resulting in significant backlash from the group’s Christian fans.
“The whole thing was definitely frustrating to deal with,” Curiel explained. “Sonny didn’t say it out of malicious intent. He was making a statement.”
Regardless of any outside controversy, once the band takes the stage, fans can be sure to expect the trademark P.O.D. sound that has earned them multiple Grammy Award nominations — heavy grooves, catchy hooks and head-bobbing melodies.
“That’s what you’re going to get with a ton of passion,” Curiel said. “That’s just what we do.”
P.O.D. play M15 Sep. 25, returning in October as part of Insane Clown Posse tour.