P.O.D. - Sonny on S/T album
Sonny: Hello?
David: Hey, Sonny.
D: This is David Allen.
S: Hey, what’s up dog?
D: How you doing?
S: Doing good, man, just heading to practice.
D: Ah, on the road…
S: Just left the pad, yeah. If you cut out on me, just call me back. I’m trying not to get sick before I go to Europe. ‘Take the Echinacea, Stay away from people…’ Nah! (laughter)
D: Man, the new album… and Jason. He seems really grounded.
S: Jason, yeah he’s a good dude. He keeps us all in check.
D: That’s Great. And the new album… I’d like to talk about that.
S: You don’t have no time limit dude, don’t even trip...
D: Jason talked about cohesiveness - how you fit really fast. Do you think that was a friendship thing or...
S: yeah, I think we’ve always known Jason, we’ve known him for a long time.
We’ve always admired his guitar playing and respected him as a person ya know. When we hung out it was never about this guy in the band, it was always family. And we’ve always welcomed him when he was in Living Sacrifice and they came through San Diego. He would come down and stay over at my grandmother’s house and we’d cook for all the boys. We always had that. When he made the decision to step down from Living Sacrifice and take his time off, we lost a little bit of contact at the point just being busy and in different places. When we asked him to help us out for the Matrix soundtrack, when he came in, we hooked up and didn’t even think about music. We didn’t even turn on the equipment. We just sat down and found how and what he’d been doing for the past couple of years. Just rekindle that friendship and find out about his wife and we heard that he adopted a little girl. He caught up on all of our stories as well. The whirlwind of everything we’ve been going through... the cool thing about Jason is that when Tim called him - ‘cause you know Tim has known him (since) when he was 17 years old - when he called Jason and let him know our situation and what was going down. Anybody else would have probably said “sick man, i’ll join P.O.D. in a heartbeat,” but all he cared about was how we were doing, how Marcos was doing. You know, how everybody was doing. It wasn’t about jumping in a band. You know he had his life to consider.
D: That says a lot.
S: It does man. Just hearing him talk and knowing the stories now, in his heart it wasn’t about playing guitar, it was about helping us out and helping us fulfill our commitments to the Matrix and you know, when we got together we wrote the Matrix song, we wrote a couple other songs and we’re like, 'Man, this feels right. It doesn’t feel like it has to be the end.' It didn’t feel like it was over. Like I said... I always tell people that we weren’t going to audition guitar places. We weren’t going to put a guitar player wanted...
D: Limp Bizkit.. (laughter)
S: (lol), Yeah, yeah. So it’s like, if Jason would have said “no” man, it was like well then... You know, he was the only person we ever thought could help us. And when we were going through it all and different conversation, it was like dude, man, if anybody could help us, it’d be Jason. he was there to help us. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn’t be here.
D:Was it easy to let him do his thing?
S: Oh yeah man. At that point, man, when we got together it was like... we don’t have to sound like anything. If we want to come out country, we’ll come out country. It’s like dating, you know. You don’t know what she likes, what she can eat, where she likes to eat... You just gotta go for it and you learn. With Jason it was like, if anything, you do what you want. If anything he had hesitations like... more of a.. not a fear, but “Man, I gotta go in, I’ve got big shoes to fill.”
D: Right.
S: It was like, 'Dude, Jason if you lead man, this is how we do it. No one ever comes in and says this is how it is. If one person leads, we follow.
If it feels good, we stick with it. If the next person leads, then that’s where we go.
D: A respect thing.
S: Of course. Right from the bat one of our first conversations was, this is about us three and you. This isn’t an audition or tryout. You're here because we love you as a person and we respect your guitar playing, so at times... we’re looking for you to lead us. We gave him full reign. And we let him know everything... Dude this is you, this is your band, man.
D: That’s what he said. He was said the full reign was amazing.
S: (laughter) If anything... A lot of times we would sit around after lunch, just hanging out and he’d grab his acoustic and start playing some acoustic jam and we were like, “Dude, that’s it right there.” That’s the riff right there... make that heavy. He would play these beautiful riffs and tell him to get on the amp on make it heavy. What’s cool about Jason’s playing is that it is so pretty, it’s almost so beautiful that it deceives the ear to tell you that it’s not that heavy. But it’s heavy. It’s just so pretty man.
D:It’s good to hear you excited about it.
S: Ah, bro, I’m telling you. At this point I just want to get out and play now.
Just being out there. Yeah, I just think Jason brings such a ... it’s like we get to relive it.
D: How fun is that?
S: I’m telling you man! It’s like the last couple of years -- it has been a whirlwind. We go around the world and experience the world for the first time. And now we’re going back and we’re not jaded, we’re like, “Dude, we get to do this with Jason, you know.”
D: New buddy.
S: Exactly. He brings a complete excitement. I think, at the end of it man, it became work. It wasn’t just four guys having fun playing music anymore. It became so much in the loop at that point. I think that’s what kinda burns people out. That’s why we took some time to rest, man. And if you don’t take that time to rest...
D: Oh man, you’d be tore up.
S: Oh yeah, you know. You’d go in even weaker than before. With Jason, we’re refreshed and want to do it all over again.
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Comments
it was a pretty cool interview
I agree. Good stuff.
Thank you for good, honest interviews!!! Rock on! :)
Great interview. Sonny's stoked on this new beginning and it shows.
this was an awesome interview but what about the other guys we need some interviews with them
Awesome interview!! Sonny's heart is in the right place!
I remember seeing POD back in the late nineties in a small little club in NYC. There were about 50 kids and 20 suits. I was probably at the same show as you, David. Seeing for 8 bucks, and they gave it all.
I have loved POD's music for about 10 years now. Good interview!
Hey edditor, it's dawg, not dog!
Yes Sonny, we gotta be preachers to the world, not just singers
hey just wanna say that was a splendid
even,candid , interview.been following these guys since i heard 1st fund.elems.
nice to know they still care about marcos jah be with u guys
Excellent interview! Candid and casual.
Sonny always leads with the right foot, speaks genuinely from his heart, and stands immovable in the Light of Christ. What a messenJAH!! :D
Thanks, HM!
P.O.D. rocks the world, i love how they spread the word in music thats my dream too . i already have a band , and we have three people standing for the three sides of the trinity symbol. im planning on writing some meaningful and powerful songs to get people psyched about jesus. but none of my songs will be as good as sonny's . U rock dude . P.O.D.s songs are so powerful. i love u guys. keep up the work every minuite changes a single persons life including mine. Christians can be hard core. ride on tribal woriors. "i am the messenjah" *peace*
P.O.D. rules
Hi....Sonny rocks!! POD should come to norway!! Keep in'it real homies and dudets!...
Peace from Norway
Sonny is just cool. It's awesome how that band works things out. It's not about money or fame for them it's about the music and th family of that band. The new album is amazing. And Truby is still kickin on guitar. Truby also keeps the Living Sacrifice spirit alive. Rock on P.O.D!
You arn't preacers or anything but look what I found from your site:
"Through the "P.O.D. Promotion Crew" and the "P.O.D./M80 online team" you will join P.O.D. on the front lines as an Official Warrior Street Team Member. No where else will you be this close to the band or the warrior movement!
You will be provided with EXCLUSIVE materials from Atlantic Records and information to help you take over your city. The warrior movement is growing around the world... Now is your chance to make history."
You are promoteing yourself in a big way.
wow...awesome interview.. we loved you sonny... POD rocks
That was a swet interview. Now only if LS was still together....
*sweet
