Mainstream Spotlight: P.O.D
We’ve covered P.O.D a lot the last few months due to their new project “When Angles & Serpents Dance”, but many of you may not know their musical history. Today I’m going to do just that by sharing with you their music, ministry and an interview that Sunny & TobyMac had together.
In the early days of P.O.D it was this very style of music and look that scared most of the Churchs in the 90’s away from bringing their music and ministry into them for concerts. In an interview in 1999 Sunny had this to say…
Most of the world claims to be Christian, but their lives don’t reflect that of Christ in any way. Seems to me like Jesus got a bum rap. All these people claim to follow him but wouldn’t even recognize him at a P.O.D. show. It’s your choice to accept Christ or not. Christ surrendered his life to prove that to us. It’s a lot easier to believe than people think. I’m just trying myself to live my life for God the best that I can and the cool thing is that all God expects from us is to just love him back. But it seems like that is too simple for man to comprehend.
While the exact date of the formation of P.O.D. is unknown, friends Marcos and Wuv engaged in jam sessions in a band called “Eschatos”. Without a vocalist sometime in the early 1990’s and after his mother’s fatal illness, Sonny commited his life to Christ and was asked by his cousin Wuv, to join P.O.D. Then Traa joined them in 1994 when they needed a bassist for a concert, to replace Gabe Portillo. They were signed with a relatively unknown Christian label, Rescue Records, and released three albums under the label between 1994 and 1997, “Snuff the Punk”, “Brown” and “Payable on Death Live.”
Shortly after the release of “Payable on Death Live”, Essential Records offered P.O.D. a contract, but Sonny spoke for them all when he politely but firmly told them…
God has a bigger plan for P.O.D.
Then in 1998, A&R rep John Rubeli from Atlantic Records caught a show at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip, and the band was quickly signed to a major-label deal.P.O.D. soon released “The Warriors” EP, a tribute EP to their loyal fans and fan club leader Jordan Peter Douglas Orava, as a transitional album from Rescue Records to Atlantic Records.
P.O.D.’s third studio album, 1999’s “The Fundamental Elements of Southtown”, spawned the hits “Southtown” and “Rock the Party (Off the Hook)”, which became their first video to reach #1. In 2001, on the same day as the September 11, 2001 attacks, P.O.D. released their fourth studio album, “Satellite”. The album’s first single, “Alive,” went on to become one of MTV’s top played video of the year. The album’s second single, “Youth of the Nation,” was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School, and Granite HillsHigh School.
In November 2003, P.O.D. released their fifth studio album, “Payable on Death.” The album was hit with controversy due to its “occult” cover, which lead many of the Christian bookstores across the United States to ban the album. With the help of the album’s hit single “Will You” and”Change the World”, it still went on to sell over 520,000 copies and was certified Gold. In November 2005, P.O.D. released “The Warriors EP, Volume 2″, which featured demos from the upcoming album.
“Testify” was released in January of 2006 with the first single, “Goodbye for Now”, becoming the #1 video on MTV’s Total Request Live. To promote their latest album, P.O.D. went on a nationwide tour called the “Warriors Tour 2: Guilty by Association”, which began in April 2006, and included the bands Pillar and The Chariot among others. That was short lived when in August of 2006 they released this statement…
P.O.D. has left Atlantic Records. We’ve been proud to be Atlantic Recording Artists, but it’s not the same place anymore. For most of our stay, we were blessed by a staff that was gracious towards our vision, faith, and love of music…. resulting in more than 7-million records sold. It’s time to dream again with a new staff and we leave with grateful hearts. By the people, FOR the people - P.O.D.
It didn’t take them long to find a new home when it was announced in February of 2007 that they signed to Columbia/INO Records. Regarding the new signing INO President Jeff Moseley said…
I am thrilled to work with P.O.D. I have been a big fan of the band for a long time and think they are at a special place in their career. I anticipate a landmark record. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the guys and their manager Tim Cook.
During this same time I watched this video where Sunny, TobyMac and a mentor talk about todays music and the impact it has on the youth of our culture.
In April of this year the released their seventh studio album “When Angles & Serpents Dance” to major success. In the first week their new project was inthe top 10 on the Billboard Magazines Top 200 chart. That’s the journey to this day, but as we always say here at StereoTruth.net let’s keep praying for Sunny,Wuv, Marcos Curieland Traa as they take this new project around the world for all their Warrior fans to hear.
If you made it to this point than you must be a true P.O.D fan so here is a free download of their current single “Shine With Me”. Thanks Kai at INO Records for hooking us up.
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