After a packed set on the main stage at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, I sat down with P.O.D. (Payable on Death) to discuss their long standing legacy within the Christian rock community, nu metal community, and an entire generation raised by their anthems. Earlier this year, P.O.D. put out their newest album Veritas, the first in six years. The group also embarked on their U.S. I Got That tour, named after the album’s track, just prior to the release. Since then, they have been on an extended festival circuit all Summer long. Their momentum isn’t going to slow down just because the year is almost over; they are geared up and ready to dive into 2025.
P.O.D. has been making music since 1992, and over the past 30 years, has built up an incredible repertoire of music. The band’s discography spans 11 full-length albums, several EP’s and a few of the most well-known singles to be produced during the 2000s. It’s hard to find anyone under the age of 30 who doesn’t know the words to “Youth Of The Nation” or “Alive.” Their songs touch on sensitive topics including social issues such as school shootings and suicide. However, what this group is so good at is addressing taboo topics and reframing them to offer a ray of hope to those in times of need or struggling through one of life’s many difficult phases.
These guys know how important it is to lift people up rather than bring people down. They’ve undoubtedly had their fair share of heart aches and struggles, giving them the ability to produce heavy music albeit with a soft edge.
How are you feeling after your set at the Jack Daniels Stage, the biggest stage at Aftershock? That must be exciting.
Sonny Sandavol: We tried to get a couple of new tunes from the new record, but, you know, it’s what it is. I mean, obviously, the festivals and built-in crowds are amazing, but you’re seeing so many bands at once, you know, so it’s a little difficult when we gotta get up there, and it’s all kind of throw and go stuff. But once we get over that, we just hope the crowd is having a good time.
Maybe in our heads, we think that everybody’s not having a good time because of the difficulties we’re experiencing. But at the end of the day, we’ve been around 33 years, and a lot of our songs have become anthems, you know what I mean? So once we get to that song and you see all the crowds singing and screaming, we’re like, OK, that’s all that matters. They’re having a good time, and that’s what matters, just gotta roll with it.
Traa Daniels: Yeah, we had some difficulties, but nothing we can’t overcome. They’re always gonna happen. Just some festival fun.
I did want to touch on what it has been like throughout your career after creating such impactful anthems. I’m from the generation that grew up chanting those anthems; what has it been like carrying those with you ever since?
Sandavol: When we were writing music, It’s not like we ever said to ourselves, “Let’s write an anthem.” We didn’t even realize what they are until other bands tell you, “You got these anthems, and everybody knows them,” you know what I mean? But I think on the downside though, too, it’s like people always expect them … they know those songs because they were radio hits, and they got on MTV Live, etc. So sometimes people just kind of think that’s all your band is when it’s the real true fan that is like, “I’ve been following you guys for 33 years since the independent stuff and the underground stuff. They know that we’re more than just what those anthems are.”
Although, we love them because it’s given us a career around the world. You can go anywhere in the world, and people know you and know those songs. And to this day, 33 years later, it’s still shocking to see everyone who still knows them. It’s so crazy, so we don’t take it for granted. We’re humbled by it, but at the same time, we have 11 records out, and and some of the biggest bands playing right now, they have three records out. You know what I mean?
Daniels: We’ve also always been very conscious of real-life experiences. For us, I think sometimes that’s what creates anthems. For instance, “Youth of the Nation” was a real-life experience that we decided to address in the song. And so was “Satellite” and “Alive” and even “Boom.” I mean, you think of all the songs we’ve ever done, they’ve always been based around something that’s a real life experience where there was something that’s going on in the world or just something that was part of our community, the people that we hung around.
When it comes to your latest release Veritas, were there key themes taken from personal experiences that fueled the inspiration for that album?
Sandavol: I mean, we all made it through COVID and the pandemic. A lot of the records that came out were very angry or they were in that kind of mindset. But for us, we were like nothing’s changed for P.O.D., we’ve always faced real life where we’re from and what we’ve gone through. But with our records, you’re always gonna get the truth, and you’re always gonna get the positive side of things. So we aren’t that band that sits around and complains about whatever. We’re just like, dude, we wanna give you a positive outlook. You know?
So for this record, it was the same thing. We all felt the same thing going through the pandemic, but we have to live our life. You gotta keep going; you gotta keep pushing always. So if anything, we just kept this album a little bit more old school where we’re just driving all the way through, you know. And it’s a good record. We’re super proud of this record.
Daniels: It was definitely inspired by what was going on during the pandemic. You know, we hadn’t seen each other for months too, so we were inspired to make music.
After such a jam packed year, what are you looking forward to next?
It’s been a busy 2024, but we take off on Monday to head over to South America to do a little Latin America run. And right now we’re trying to lock in a late January/February U.S. tour. We haven’t announced it yet, but we’ll be headed over to Europe with God Smack until April.
So we’re super excited about that, and we’re just moving. With the new record comes a lot of touring and we’re just always grateful for every opportunity that we get.
Photos courtesy of Jake Miller
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