Riding high off the back of excellent new album Veritas (reviewed here), P.O.D. are hardly resting on their laurels, the restless band launching themselves upon a tour that criss-crosses the US, shoots over to Germany, and then back to the US for a further handful of shows. You’d think, after some thirty-two years the band would be showing signs of slowing down but spend a few minutes with Sonny Sandoval, the band’s effusive and warm hearted singer, and you’ll see that slowing down really isn’t an option.
One of the most open and enthusiastic interviewees you could ever hope to meet, Sonny in person is the polar opposite of his on-stage persona. For, while the P.O.D. frontman concentrates on rocking the joint when he has a mic in his hand, relaxing on his bus, he is warm, gracious, and friendly.
Hello, hello, hello! How are you doing?
Very well, thank you, and thank you so much for making this time for me.
Of course, I’m on no sleep, it’s all good baby! [Laughs]
It’s such a pleasure to have the opportunity to catch up with you.
Ah, no worries, man. Thank you. I’m in the back of the bus – we’re on tour at the moment.
So, the first question I have for you is, you came out with Circles, just before the pandemic, which was kind of one of my albums of that year – it was such a glorious, positive album. And Veritas is full of hope, I think, but at the same time it’s a lot heavier – so, I guess it reflects the turmoil of the last four years, both in terms of the pandemic, and what’s been happening in terms of the political polarisation in America. Is that how you see it evolving?
Yeah, 100% All of us went through a whirlwind in that season of life; and even looking back now, it was pretty crazy. You’re right, with Circles – man, we were touring our butts off. We did two tours in America and the UK, and we’ve never done two tours in one year overseas
[brief cut in the connection]
Yeah, we were selling out shows, and we were like “man, this album is connecting all across Europe”, and it was in the US too. So, we were all set in 2020 for all the European and UK tours and festivals, and then the pandemic happened.
I think, once we finished this record – I mean, we did have the intention to keep the album kind of rocking, because we realised also that the Circles record was more like an alternative kind of record. It had so many different flavours and spices that do make up P.O.D. and are P.O.D. But I think with this album, I’ve been saying, it’s just very meat ‘n’ potatoes P.O.D., you know what I mean? It’s not too spicy over here. It’s not too much of this, it’s not too much of that, it’s just kind of rocking all the way through.
Yeah, man, this album was birthed from everything that we were experiencing as a band.
And it’s interesting, because going way, way back to when you started – sometimes there’s a perception that you shot into existence with Satellite – but you guys were birthed through the hardcore scene and were playing like the heaviest and hardest shows, and you evolved and grew your sound over a period of time.
For sure! We had done two independent records; we put out Fundamental. And, when we put out Fundamental, that’s when we experienced that mainstream kind of rock ‘n’ roll and, yeah, you’re right. We came from the underground, and all of a sudden, we’re playing with these huge bands that we loved, and we looked up to, and we experienced a whole other level and so, when Fundamental Elements Of South Town went platinum, it just put us on a different level.
And, when we wrote Satellite, we believed… there was no pressure, but we believed that we had earned every single one of those fans. Every single one of those people who bought our record and came to those shows, we earned them. Every night, at that point it had been eight – nine… almost ten years, and we earned every single one of those fans. And so, with Satellite, I think we were consciously trying to be more universal.
Like I said, there was no pressure, but I was trying to sing more. I was trying to do this… we were just trying to take it up to the next level, and when it happened, and it was pretty damn incredible! [laughs]
So, I can’t complain man, it was just – every album and every time has been a whole new journey.
I was speaking with an artist quite recently and we were talking about the power of hope in music, and we were talking about how music is a very spiritual thing…
It is…
…And the ability of music to create that universal language and to bring hope to people, and for me that’s one of the things that’s consistently important to P.O.D. – no matter how angry, no matter how aggressive some of the tracks are, there’s always that fundamental sense of hope and that’s obviously important to you.
Very important.
You know, when we started off, like you said, we played all the hardcore shows, and the punk shows, and we come from a scene where everybody is about something. You know what I mean? As long as you’re about it, you’re about it, and that’s OK. And for us, we were just young guys experiencing this change in life. We were trying to figure out our faith, and we were trying to do all this stuff, but we were never judged for it because this is hardcore music – you’re about something, you know, scream it! Pick up that microphone and scream it!
And it wasn’t until you start to make music down the line and, like I said, you do get into that mainstream set and people… or whoever – the powers that be – they try to categorise you.
We never wanted to be categorised.
We weren’t for the first seven or eight years of our career – that’s who P.O.D. is and we should be allowed to be that. It’s our expression. It’s for us, first and foremost – we want to get it out. It’s for us to find ourselves. But, most importantly, collectively as a band, we’ve always wanted to inspire people. We always wanted to offer that hope.
We could have written Veritas – this record – and just been pissed off! And I’m not saying we weren’t, you know! I’m not saying that either, but I’m always going to find my way lyrically back to how I can channel all these feelings and emotions back to being grateful. I can love, you know what I mean [laughs], I still have the power to change the world. I still have the choice to see the good for what it is.
It’s just… P.O.D.’s always going to do that. It doesn’t mean we have it all figured out, or we’re above this or that – you know. It’s not that at all. It’s just us trying to navigate through life and keep smiling at the end of the day.
Aside from that hope, something that really appeals to me – and it really hit me with Circles and, again, with Veritas – it still sounds, thirty-two years in, as if you’re having a blast in the studio and you can still feel that passion and enthusiasm in the music…
Oh yeah!
That’s something the production doesn’t touch that – it’s the performance, right?
Not even to say that during Circles and Veritas we were going through such crazy stuff, even as a band, so by you saying that… when I look back at all of it, that was me, even subconsciously and even personally trying to find that hope and that positivity in all of that.
Maybe not all of it was fun in creating… Circles was… it took a while to get to Circles. We were going through so much stuff, the last thing we wanted to do was write! Even in the midst of that, somehow, somewhere, we found the energy to say… yeah, subconsciously – let’s make this fun record! But I think that’s just, I don’t know, it’s just who we want to be.
And on this record, you’ve got some guests – Randy, Tatiana, Cove – how did you think about bringing in guests and channelling their energy into your music?
It’s never overthought. Kind of when it happens, it happens.
At the time, I had just met Randy a few years ago… surprisingly after all the festivals and shows we’ve played together. And Randy’s a sweetheart. I read his book, and we met on a rock ‘n’ roll cruise, and we just connected through H.R. from Bad Brains.
He’s just, man, he’s a good dude.
And then I just kind of tossed it over to him – I said “hey, you might not be interested…” But I knew that his musical taste was eclectic, it’s not… people look at Randy and think he’s just a metal guy, but no, he loves all kind of music, you know. He grew up doing the same things we did – skating and surfing! We’re on the West Coast, he’s on the East Coast…
Anyways, I took a shot – “I don’t know if you’re interested or not, bro, but if you want to get down…” So, he asked me to send him the song, I sent it over, and he heard it and he said, “I’m in!” So, it was that. It works itself out.
Tatiana, she’s part of the P.O.D. family, we’re part of the Jinjer family. Alex Lopez, who played with Suicide Silence, he’s actually playing drums for us right now, and they’re married, so it was just – the song has this gang chorus, and we knew we wanted a female element to make the “we” element of it [laughs]. So, we asked her to do it and she’s amazing!
Cove is actually from San Diego, and he represents that new school to us – from Scary kids Scaring Kids; now he sings with Saosin, Dead American, and it just rounds out all the different flavours that we love.
It’s interesting what you said about Randy because I think one of the things that makes a great band stand out is that its members are usually very eclectic in their tastes – it helps to create something that doesn’t just sound like one set of influences.
Most definitely. It also keeps you creative. You know, you just – it’s like a kitchen spice rack, or a laboratory. You get to pull from so many different places and so many different things. And I think most fans would be surprised at the artists that they love and all the different kinds of music they are into. And we’ve been that same way too, we all come from San Diego, there are so many different kinds of people and we’ve been fans of so many different styles of music and we still are. It just gives us a lot more tools to use, that’s all. It doesn’t mean that everyone gets it, or digs it, or vibes to it but, for us, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
One of the things recently that you’ve done is the Youth of a Nation charity project and that’s really cool in so many ways. One of the things I strongly believe is that, when it comes to young people, social programmes are so much more effective and beneficial than when people are talking about discipline and crime and punishment – could you tell me a bit more about the project?
It started right before COVID and my vision has always been to have my own building with a recording studio, music rooms, a case for kids to have after school programmes, to find themselves artistically, and a safe place to go. Then, when COVID happened, that kind of crushed that idea, because no one was going inside, everyone was six feet away from each other [laughs].
In the meantime, I’ve been learning. My long-term vision is still to have that building, but that’s going to cost a lot of money, but I believe in it. I want to give kids the option to not join a gang, to not sell drugs in my neighbourhood. I want to put a PRS guitar in their hands and a stack of whatever… this big old amp, to just give it a shot and see where it fits into their life. And not only will they work it out, but mentally to just be able to go in there and have a different outlet.
But in the meantime, I’ve been able to partner with a lot of organisations in my neighbourhood and we’ve supplied everything from school supplies to arts, to equipment for studios for underprivileged kids. I’m learning it all. And even during this, I joined the board for the YMCA in my neighbourhood that I grew up in and I’m learning. I’ve always done charity stuff, but this is more on an organised level [laughs] And I’m trying to figure it out, man. I believe in young people, especially the kids in my neighbourhood that don’t have the opportunities that a lot of people do. I want to try to provide that.
And it’s perfectly named, because that song was such a powerful commentary at a time when there was (and there still is), such a lot of violence in schools. So. tying those things together – the P.O.D. philosophy and empowerment, and it speaks a lot to the heart that lies at the core of P.O.D. if that makes sense.
It does man. Thank you for noticing. Not everyone notices that they want their rock stars to be rock stars, and whatever. And rock star is so not what I am [laughs] I just love people, man, I love my city, I love my neighbourhood, and I want to see kids have a chance.
Another thing you’ve been doing is you’ve been working on a solo reggae project, is that right?
I did a lot of stuff during COVID, just to stay sane! I had all intentions of putting it out, but the label really wanted… I was just going to do everything independently – just throw it out there, just put it out there [laughs]; maybe play some shows – whatever!
But, you know, once the label and management and everyone caught wind, they were like “wait a minute, we need a new P.O.D. record first!”
And the thing is, I totally could have done it! We had no idea. It’s been two-and-a-half years! It took like a year-and-a-half just to get this album out.
So, I wish I would have. It’s content, it’s just content. It’s just part of the story, but I still plan on doing it. As soon as we’re on the tail end of this record, I’m going to release music, and I hope to tour it, just because for me it’s no stress. It’s not… it’s just part of me, and it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time. And I will, and it’ll see the light of day at some point.
That was kind of the thing for me – COVID, for all that it was awful, there was that opportunity; for those who could take it and who wanted to take it; to be creative in all sorts of different ways. And, I’m not making light of it, but it wasn’t wholly negative, I guess, if you were able to make something and do something different while the world was stopped.
Yeah – there were some people who sat and did nothing. But, I think, I read somewhere that during that time most young people… the sales of guitars went up. The sales of skateboards went up because kids were like “give me something to do!” Kids learned how to skate. Kids learned how to play guitar during that time. It forced them to get up and to move and to be creative. So, yeah, that was a good thing.
And it was the same thing for me. I couldn’t sit with anybody, so I sat online, and I started finding guys all over the world who made reggae music, and they had all these rhythms and stuff, and I was emailing them and saying “hey, if you want to send me the track, I’d love to goof around and throw some vocals on it”. And people were like “no way, dude! I’ll send you the track!” So, I got beats from guys in Greece and Mexico and Germany, and all this stuff and so, even now, as soon as I release it, I still have to legally involve all of them so I can give them the credit and pay them what they’re owed. So, it was just another outlet to be creative.
That’s amazing, and that idea of keeping community and being able to reach out online – that’s so cool.
Yeah, it was fun!
And going back to where we started, music is community and it’s a shared language and it crosses boundaries, and it’s amazing.
It is – it’s one of the superpowers of music. It does bring people together and you can be completely different and from opposite ends of the world, but here we are, we’re all singing a Bob Marley song, or whatever it is [Laughs] It’s kinda cool!
So, I just have one last question – there was a big gap between Circles and Veritas for obvious reasons, but it seems like you’re kind of blazing away at the moment, so do you see something new coming together?
Yeah, I mean the fact that we’ve been sitting on this record for a year-and-a-half now, we’re consciously already saying that on this tour we’re going to sit around and keep the ideas fresh. We don’t want to stop. We want this music to come out. We’re sitting on a few live records that we’re going to mix, and we want to get out at some point. Like I said earlier, it’s content, content, content – people forget so quick [laugh] It’s like, man, we only have so many years left in this game, and we’re just blessed to keep doing it, so we’ll keep writing!
We saw you in Birmingham with Alien Ant Farm, and the energy in that room was so intense. It was one of the hottest gigs we’ve been to – outside it was cold and grey, and inside the place was jumping!
That was a great tour man!
So, thank you so much for your time and it’s been a pleasure.
Thank you so much man, I appreciate you having me.
The excellent Veritas is out now via Mascot Records.
Check out Sonny’s Youth of a Nation Foundation here
