|
P.O.D.
:
Payable on Death, P.O.D. have exploded to the stratosphere
with their finest work to date, the extraordinary "SATELLITE."
A high-decibel blast of potent cross-cultural power rock,
joyful, provocative, challenging, and utterly real. Co-produced
by the band with Howard Benson (the man behind the board for
P.O.D.'s RIAA platinum certified label debut, 1999's "THE
FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF SOUTHTOWN"), tracks like the
fervent first single, "Alive" or the emotionally
charged "Youth of the Nation" find P.O.D. relentlessly
reaching heavenward to evoke a sense of positive vibrations
unique to today's rock n' roll. "All the great rock bands
were always driven by passion and emotion," says Marcos,
the band's versatile guitarist, "whether it's a negative
passion and emotion or a positive passion and emotion. And
for us, a lot of the rock that's out today - and I'm not saying
any names - a lot of it's devoid of any type of emotion. It's
all processed and done up in the studio. But to us, we always
put all of our love and everything that we have into our music.
"There's not really a word that can describe P.O.D.,"
says Marcos. "If you were to go to each one of our homes
and look at our CD collections, you would see everything from
metal to punk to jazz to reggae, you name it. Everything.
Except maybe country, but other than that, we have it all."
"If it feels good, it feels good," notes Traâ.
"That's a P.O.D. rule. When I came to the band, I was
very stubborn about what I wanted to play, but being with
these guys opened me up to a lot of different music. And the
most important thing with music is how does it make you feel?
Not whether you like it or don't like it. If you feel good
listening to something, then it's a good song. If you don't,
then it's not." The notion that rock n' roll is meant
to move and inspire is prevalent on"SATELLITE,"
especially on such tracks as the style-jumping "Ghetto"
and the exultant anthem, "Alive."
"'Satellite'
is about that person, that thing in the sky watching out for
you," he explains. "Most people who lose somebody
have that notion, that they're out there looking out for you,
watching your back." Perhaps the most powerful song on
"SATELLITE" is "Youth of the Nation."
The track is the band's raw, wrenching response to the recent
plague of school violence. "We had done a show for some
kids that went to Columbine," says Sonny, "they
wanted P.O.D. to play, just for a positive encouragement type
thing. And it was always in the back of our minds, like, just
what are these kids going through? This is the hardest time
for kids."Very few bands today have any respect for the
past," Marcos notes of P.O.D.'s collaborations with their
musical predecessors, "and how can you conquer the future
if you don't know anything about the past? As a band, we respect
the past, from soul to R&B to punk, anything you can think
of that had emotion, we respect that. And there's a lot of
elements that we've taken from those people and brought into
our music that a lot of bands today don't even care about."
P.O.D. have long been passing knowledge onto their legion
of devoted fans, known as The Warriors. This fiercely loyal
grassroots following drove the 1999 single/video "Rock
The Party (Off The Hook)" to the top spot on MTV's Total
Request Live - making P.O.D. the third-ever rock band to reach
the #1 position in TRL history, with Korn and Limp Bizkit.
The reason for the Warriors' passion is simple - P.O.D. are
the real deal, a true-to-the-bone rock n' roll band whose
heart and soul are always front and center. We do what we
know is right for us," Sonny affirms. "And that's
it. We don't go out there and give a sermon when we get on
stage, we don't shove anything down anybody's throat. But
we sing about what's real in our life. And that's the bottom
line."
True to their
hardcore roots, P.O.D. remain one of the hardest working bands
in America, spending more than half the year on the road,
playing largely to all-ages crowds at county parks, coffeehouses,
colleges, and coliseums. They were main stage sensations on
Ozzfest 2000, they toured alongside Staind and Crazy Town
as part of 2000's MTV Return Of The Rock Tour, and in recent
years have shared stages with Kid Rock, Linkin Park, Primus,
Sevendust, and Korn. "We're trying to be universal,"
Marcos says. "If we can get your grandma listening to
us, if we can get the little three-year-old kid listening,
then it's done. What is your purpose as a musician? You're
playing an instrument so that people can hear you, man. Why
do you play live? To be seen. And for your music be heard.
If not, why in the heck are you playing guitar?
 _.:P.O.D.
Official Site
|
