Bob Zerull of Zoiks! Online recently conducted an interview with vocalist Sonny Sandoval of Christian hard rockers P.O.D [Payable On Death]. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Zoiks! Online: You’ve got a lot of momentum going with the new album Murdered Love. You worked with [producer] Howard Benson again. Was the magic still there?
Sonny: Yeah, man. We’ve come up together. We are his first gold and platinum record, and after that, he took on the world and made millions of other records. I think with us taking a little hiatus and now coming back, I was keeping in touch with him and he was, like, “When do you want to do it again? Because I want to make a real rock record; I’m tired of the cookie-cutter process.” He lets us be us; that’s the cool thing. When we say something, he fights for it. We also listen to his opinion because we trust it and he’s just easy to work with.
Zoiks! Online: There’s are several collaborations on the album. I’m a big Jamey Jasta [Hatebreed] fan. How did he get involved?
Sonny: He’s just an old friend, you know?! [There is] mutual respect [between us]. To do collaborations is always just fun for us. We wanted a heavy vocal [so] we thought of him. [We wanted something] more street, then we thought maybe more grimy like Dave Mustaine [MEGADETH]. By Twitter, Jamey and I happened to be going back and forth and I was like, “Hey, dude, I got a song if you’re interested.” He was like, “Dude, send it over.” That’s one of the benefits of technology. I think within a couple of days we had it done. He was a complete professional. [He] didn’t want nothing. It was just for the love of music and he killed it.
Zoiks! Online: We’re headquartered out of the western side of Illinois and there is this festival there called the Cornerstone Festival. You’ve played it several times. It ended this year. What was your thoughts on the festival and are you sad to see it go?
Sonny: Yeah, I’m sad to see it go. Cornerstone was one of those things where even for me coming from California… We never claimed to be a Christian band; we just were outspoken about our faith. It’s not like we knew there was a scene. We weren’t playing churches, but all of the sudden we started getting asked to play certain places. The first time we played Cornerstone was 1994, [and I] was like, “Yo, this is cool.” I wasn’t raised in the Church. I wasn’t raised a Christian. To me, Christianity was so conservative and stuffy, but for me it was just a relationship with God. The Church relationship was just so stuffy. Then I went to Cornerstoneand there were, like, dudes with Mohawks, pink hair, tattoos and I was like, “I can get down with this.” I got love for Cornerstone, man.
Read the entire interview from Zoiks! Online.
Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival
September 5 – Simpsonville, SC – Charter Amphitheatre at Heritage Park
September 7 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
September 8 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
September 9 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
September 11 – Raleigh, NC – Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
September 12 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood
September 13 – Tampa, FL – 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre
September 15 – Houston, TX – Woodlands Pavilion
September 16 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
September 18 – Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheater
September 19 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
September 21 Spokane, WA – Greyhound Park and Events Center
September 22 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
September 23 Portland, OR – Sleep Country Amphitheater
September 25 Boise, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheater
September 29 Phoenix, AZ – Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion
September 30 – Albuquerque, NM – Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion
November 27 – December 1 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL -ShipRocked 2012 *P.O.D. on festival
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Related articles:
‘P.O.D’ signs new deal with ‘Razor & Tie’ [New Album Slated For Release In 2012] [Oct. 2011]
‘P.O.D’. In The Studio: Video Footage Posted Online [Nov. 2011]
‘P.O.D’ Launch Logo Design Contest [Dec. 2011]
‘RED’ & ‘P.O.D’ To Play ‘Carolina Rebellion Festival 2012′ [Feb. 2012]
‘P.O.D’ Completes Work On New Album + New Tour Dates [March 2012]
‘P.O.D’ New Song Released ‘Eyez’ Download It For Free [April 2012]
‘P.O.D’ Release First Official Single From Forthcoming New Studio Album ‘Murdered Love’ [April 2012]
‘P.O.D’ To Play ‘Rockstar Uproar Festival’ 2012 [‘Murdered Love’ Release Party] [June 2012]
‘P.O.D’ Performs Acoustic Version Of ‘Lost In Forever’ On ’102.9 The Buzz’ [Video Available][June 2012]
‘P.O.D’ Debut ‘Murdered Love’ Lyric Video From New Album [June 2012]
‘P.O.D’s’ ‘Murdered Love’ Cracks U.S. Top 20 [July 2012]
‘P.O.D’ Music Video For ‘Higher’ Released [Aug. 2012]