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P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval (front) with bandmates Wuv, Truby and Traa

On September 11, 2001, while terrorists were attacking America, another, much less significant, event was taking place: P.O.D.'s Satellite was being placed on store shelves. The band was already on the rise, but after the 9/11 attacks, Satellite, with its songs of hope and healing, was good medicine indeed. The album—with hits like "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation"—went on to sell more than 3 million copies. Two years later, the band, still riding Satellite's high, released Payable on Death, and it … well, it didn't bomb, but it hardly took off, selling just 500,000-plus copies. P.O.D., which had been on MTV and the radio about, oh, every 30 seconds, slowly faded from the limelight.

Related: • Part 2 of our interview with Sonny Sandoval

But now they're poised for something of a comeback. After several delays, they've finally finished the highly anticipated Testify, which drops January 24. In the meantime, to satisfy anxious fans, P.O.D. is now releasing The Warriors EP, Vol. 2, with a run of only 40,000 copies. With two albums in two months, we thought it was the right time to catch up with P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval.

In this exclusive interview—the first of two parts—Sandoval discusses P.O.D.'s somewhat rocky history with Christian retail and the world of CCM, how they protect themselves spiritually in the midst of temptation and darkness, and their respect for C. S. Lewis and Billy Graham. In part two of the interview, which we'll post in late January when Testify releases, Sandoval discusses the new album—and a whole lot more.

So, you've got a new Warriors EP. Why now?

Sonny Sandoval: Since Testify got pushed back till January and we've been away for so long, and since we had some extra material, we thought, Why don't we just put out something to say that we're still here? We haven't forgotten everybody. It's a mix of some live stuff, some demo stuff, and we actually went into the studio and did a whole new reggae song. It's fun, and it came out a lot better than we expected.

I don't know if Christian retail is carrying it, but they haven't always been very accommodating to your albums. They didn't like the cover art for The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999) and pulled it from their shelves. Then they did the same with Payable on Death (2003). How did all that make you feel?

Sandoval: It's frustrating. But even more, it's just confusing, because when we first signed with Atlantic, we made the point that our independent records had sold well in Christian retail, and we wanted to continue to do that. So Atlantic went through the hoops and made it possible for that to happen. Then when our record [Southtown] came out, Christian retail said they can't put it in the bookstores because of the cover art. It didn't make sense.

We were like, "Wait a minute. We're trying to make this stand with this major label, Atlantic Records, and you guys [Christian retail] tell them they can't put this in your bookstores?" It was frustrating. And it just doesn't make sense. What is a cover, anyway? The music and the content is still the same. If you think the cover is blasphemous or you think it's not of God, then what is the music going to be about? But we dealt with it. And then it happened again with our last record.

And then, on top of all that, the Christian music industry, when tallying up its year-end record sales, claimed P.O.D.'s sales as "ours"!

Sandoval: (laughing) Of course! You'd really get frustrated if you think about it for too long. But in the end, my hope is that we'll put out music that will touch somebody and affect somebody's life. We just don't get lost in [the business side of things] because there's enough things to worry about. We're just a band that makes music. So whoever wants to put it out, hey, if you get into the kids' hands, that's what we want.

Some people would say there shouldn't even be such a thing as "Christian music," and I can see pros and cons both ways because …

Sandoval: Me too.

It's the only genre that's defined by the message instead of the music. What's your take on it? Do you have to choose one side or the other—Christian or mainstream? Or can you just be both, with feet in both worlds?

Sandoval: I think we do and I believe that we are. When P.O.D. came out, it kind of broke that mold of either/or. When we signed to Atlantic, we had a successful record [Southtown], and then the entire mainstream industry is saying, "Hey, look at P.O.D." To them, we're "that Christian band. But look at the sales and the response they're getting."

Then they look into the CCM industry and see all the money that's being made, and all of a sudden—because it's big business—they start looking for Christian bands to sign. Everywhere I look now, the Christian bands we used to play with back in the day are all signing to major labels. Doesn't matter if it's a P.O.D. or it's a Switchfoot. Doesn't matter if the bands are saying, "I just want my music to encourage people" or "I want to glorify God through my music." The label heads don't need to know that. They just know music. They just care whether you sell or not.

Speaking of the mainstream, you guys are willing to go and play almost anywhere. You and I have a mutual friend who describes you as a modern-day Daniel.

Sandoval: (laughs)

Well, you've played Ozzfest, you've toured with Korn and Staind and TapRoot. You just don't just do "safe" mainstream stuff, like Leno and Letterman. You step into some pretty dark places—sorta like Daniel in the lions' den. How do you prepare yourself, and are you ever afraid going to these places?

Sandoval: I'm not afraid of anything. These places are more familiar to me than most Christian places, because I wasn't raised in the church. If anything, I'm just more afraid of myself. When we go into these places, as P.O.D., we want to do our thing, to represent the things we believe. We're trying to walk our own walks and not get caught up in all the nonsense, because let's face it: It is a different world. We've gotten to a place [of fame and celebrity] where everybody wants something from you, or they want to take care of you, or they want to kiss your butt. And it's like, man, that's not the worst feeling in the world, you know what I mean? (laughs)

So you've got to learn to back up from that. You go in these places, you've just got to keep those roots so you can stay grounded. We always go to these places in fear—the right kind of fear. We've got to keep our guards up nonstop. And then when we get in these situations and they're a little tough, we have people on the road with us—our wives, our family, pastors that we entrust. We come alongside each other, and we're always in prayer—and we encourage people to do the same for us.

I remember when Howard Stern interviewed you guys, he couldn't believe that you weren't having sex with groupies or generally acting like hedonistic rock stars. He was stunned that you were faithful to your wives instead.

Sandoval: Yeah.

Obviously you're faced with the same temptations as any rock stars. How do you resist?

Sandoval: For me, it's just the fear—but a good fear. I know God is watching out for me, and he's saying, "Okay, son, watch your step now. You can be in these places, but just be careful. Keep your guard up." But of course, having family and friends and pastors with us always helps. To know that so many people have got our backs and support us is an awesome thing, because it does so much good in comparison to the people out there who just want to see you fall. You need people saying, "Hey man, I'm with you all the way."

What about away from music, when you're hanging out at home? What's that look like for you? Taking your daughter to school, just regular everyday stuff?

Sandoval: Yeah. Going to school. And now we have a lot more time with the youngest one [a 1-year-old boy]. We're hanging out. I'll hang out with my wife. We'll go get some lunch. Or we'll barbecue; I love to cook. I have so much family in San Diego; I'll just hang out with them. Go visit Grandma and everybody. I try to soak up as much of that as possible. I like to just catch up with family and friends.

Lately, I've been catching up on some of the C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia, and I'm getting excited about the movie. We're all acting like little kids, we're so excited about it.

So, you're a Lewis fan. I hear you're also a fan of Billy Graham.

Sandoval: Yes. A couple years ago, we were invited to perform at his crusade in San Diego. And it was like, man, we love and respect the guy, but that really doesn't make sense: "P.O.D. plays Billy Graham." There's going to be 50,000 people there, whether P.O.D. plays or not.

So, we met all his people and we had a chance to meet Mr. Graham. We were like, "Hey, we just want to be there, to hang out and meet people and serve. We don't want to go up there on stage. This is not a platform for P.O.D. We don't want to use your platform to promote our band."

That's how we do it. I don't want to use anybody else's platform. I think God has them in their place. And I think God has us in our place.

Be sure to check back for part 2 of our interview with Sandoval on January 23, 2006, where he talks about the band's new album, Testify, noting that "the P.O.D. way" is to "always intertwine that hope that we have in Christ" with their music. In the meantime, check out our artist page for the band. Visit Christianbook.com to listen to sound clips and buy P.O.D's music.

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