P.O.D.: 'We're Really Super Proud' Of Our Upcoming Album

In a recent interview with FemMetal, P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel and bassist Mark "Traa" Daniels spoke about the band's recently completed new studio album. The recording sessions for the follow-up to 2024's "Veritas" took place in the Whitman section of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Grammy-winning music producer and engineer Will Yip at his new Memory Music Studios. Marcos said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, Will Yip's an amazing producer. If you do a little research on him, he goes as far back as Ruffhouse Records from Lauryn Hill, CYPRESS HILL, a lot of the hip-hop. And as he progressed, it got into punk rock, hardcore, indie rock, and a lot of the bands that he worked with, we're fans of. We're fans of music. Just because you join a band and have some success, you don't stop being a fan. So we're, like, 'Dude, he produced this record, huh? Oh, I love that record. He produced this one. Oh, wow.' And as things evolved and things grew, we were, like, 'Yo, maybe one day he'll work with us.' But before that, it organically happened that we just became friends online, and we started talking, found out he was a P.O.D. fan, and then, we became friends, and then just something happened. We were gonna be going in with another producer, and it didn't work out. And I so happened to ask, 'Hey, dude, what do you have going on on your schedule?' And he was, like, 'Wait, what are you saying? What are you saying?' I go, 'No, I just have a question for you. What's your schedule like?' 'Dude, I'll do it. I'll do it.' He was excited. And we were just, like, 'Okay, well, you know what? Let's see if we can make it happen.' And it just happened organically. And we were able to do a record with him, and we're really super proud of it."

Regarding the lyrical themes covered on P.O.D.'s upcoming album, Marcos said: "I think there's a lot of threads coming from 'Veritas'. It's kind of an extension, but it's also, I would wanna say a growth. So you guys are just gonna have to wait and see, but there definitely are some threads, for sure."

Traa added: "Marcos had an amazing concept for this record when he first was talking about some ideas that he had that I think are gonna be really thought-provoking once people actually listen to the music. And I think it's gonna kind of throw people for a loop, but it's definitely gonna… It's definitely P.O.D., but I think it's gonna definitely cause people to wanna think. 'Cause it's not as surface-y as it it sounds. But it's an amazing record."

Asked if it was hard to convince the San Diego rock scene in the 1990s that rap belonged there as well, Marcos said:  "We're always trying to convince people of that, but you know what? We stopped caring. Because what happened is, it came so natural. It's who we are. We are a product of our environment, and in Southern California, you have the sun, you have the beach, you have skateboarding, you have a hardcore scene, punk rock scene, reggae scene. It played a major influence on this band, with all of us. So when we got together, we knew exactly what we wanted to try to create, which was a lifestyle sound, which is a mix of all that. And we appreciate — like I said, we're fans of music. We're always trying to grow: 'Hey, man, these kids are doing it right.' A lot of times we lose hope. We're, like, 'Man, I don't know where music's going.' And then a couple of bands will come out, and you'll be, like, 'Wow, okay, I'm digging this.' But we do lean more towards the punk rock side of things and the hardcore side of things. I know a lot of times we get caught up at metal festivals and stuff, which we love. But when you get bands like TURNSTILE, who Will Yip worked with and got Grammys for, you're, like, 'Ah, I like it. I like the future of music right now. I like what I see going on.' So let's keep it going."

Traa added: "When I got to San Diego, I realized and I saw an amazing amount of diversity. I mean, San Diego is a melting pot of a lot of different cultures and styles and music and everything. And you see a lot of different people that you would think don't listen to certain styles of music, they listen to it. Like Filipino guys are listening to metal, and then black dudes are listening to whatever, reggae or whatever, and everybody's just mixing. White dudes will listen to everything. So I think as a band, when we came together, we don't really have boundaries musical style-wise. We just kind of put everything in a pot and mix it up, and it's P.O.D. And it involves punk, metal, reggae, funk, jazz. Whatever you wanna call it, it's in there."

This past June, P.O.D. vocalist Sonny Sandoval told Robert Filipowski of Poland's Teraz Rock about the band's upcoming LP: "We spent a couple of weeks in Philadelphia. It was our first time recording outside of California. And it came out more incredible than we had ever planned. I think we were more prepared to go into the studio this time. We had already done writing on tour. Vocally, I had finished about nine songs here at home. The producer is Will Yip. He just won 'Best Rock Album' with TURNSTILE, he won a Grammy for 'Best Rock Album'. But we had already been friends prior and agreed to work together even before all of that. And so we went with him."

Elaborating on how P.O.D. approached the recording sessions for the upcoming LP, Sonny said: "We only had two weeks. And we didn't even think we'd finish the record. We just wanted to get started, but we went in, and because we were so prepared, and Will is such a genius, we finished the whole record. And so now we're done, with 13 songs ready to be mixed and mastered. And so hopefully you'll start hearing songs soon enough. But it's heavy, but also it's extremely beautiful. I'm singing in ways that I've never done before, and it's... [Will] really pushed me to do that. It's the first time [P.O.D. guitarist] Marcos [Curiel] ever wrote on a seven-string guitar, so we have about six or seven songs on a seven-string [guitar]. And, yeah, it's amazing. I would even dare to say it could be the best album that we've ever written."

In May, Curiel was asked by the 99.7 The Blitz radio station how the new P.O.D. album will be different from "Veritas". Marcos said: "I think that's ['Veritas'] kind of the introduction of where we were into where we were headed. Now this new album is an extension of that, but fresh."

He added: "We're excited. We can't wait for people to hear it, 'cause as an artist, people are, like, 'Oh, yeah, you're playing all your bangers, all your big hits.' We're grateful. Those songs are timeless, but we're not done. We wanna create, we wanna create music that rocks, and hopefully people love it as much as we did creating it and playing it."

Earlier in May, Curiel told SWOMP about working with Yip: "Will is credited for pretty much working from everything from CIRCA SURVIVE, Anthony Green, QUICKSAND, CODE ORANGE, TITLE FIGHT, and most recent, his biggest accolades, Grammys for TURNSTILE. And now he's working with P.O.D.

"It wasn't, like, 'Oh, we're gonna get with Will 'cause he's a Grammy [nominee]...' It was because we've been fans of his work, but he was also a fan of our band," Marcos explained. "And when the opportunity arose, he took it, and was, like, 'Dude, I love your band. I wanna produce you guys.' And we were, like, 'Let's go.' And we're super excited about it."

Regarding the recording process for P.O.D.'s upcoming album, Marcos said: "I can say this proudly, we did a record — 13, 14 songs — all tracked, vocals, drums, and guitars, in 12 days. It kind of set the tone, like, it's good to be prepared. I kind of like it… And the songs came out so dope. We're extremely proud of it, dude."

On the topic of what it was like for P.O.D. to record outside of California for the first time, Marcos said: "[It was] awesome, actually."

Traa chimed in: "Sometimes it's good to get out of our element. It's easy in California, because everything's there. Our family's there, so it was good to get out of our element, be in a situation where we can pull 10-, 12-hour shifts and have nowhere to go."

Marcos added: "We had a 10-minute walk every morning from our Airbnb to the studio. And we got to soak in the community and the culture and the vibe of South Philly. I felt like Rocky sometimes, bro [a reference to the fictional movie character who has become the city's unofficial underdog mascot]… But the streets were just like that. We were, like, 'Look at these houses.' So much culture and vibe there, bro."

Asked what Yip brought out of P.O.D. throughout the recording process, Marcos said: "He's heavily invested. He understands our band. That was one of the key things that kind of enticed me as a writer, as a musician. He started way back with [1990s hip-hop label] Ruffhouse [Records, home to THE FUGEES, CYPRESS HILL and Lauryn Hill], so he has that whole hip-hop background and foundation. Lauryn Hill, FUGEES, all that stuff. But then he has this indie rock and punk rock, post-hardcore, hardcore vibe. We thought it would be a perfect thing for our band. And when we got with him, we weren't mistaken. It was a good vibe, just everything. Vibe, cultural, food-wise. He's a foodie. So there's things you're passionate in life. There's food, then there's music and your family. He's all of those things… He wasn't trying to change us. He was, like, 'This is what P.O.D. is. Let's try to enhance that and make it fresh.'"

Sonny added: "It was so good. And he's a fan of our band, which, it was inspiring. His energy was inspiring. A lot of producers, they're just jaded, and a lot of it is all, as Marcos says, transactional. They do a record because they get paid. It's money, and they're trying to build their catalog. But [Will is], like, 'I only wanna work with bands that I actually respect and like.'

Marcos continued: "It was a team effort. His positivity is very contagious in a great way, man."

P.O.D. released a studio version of its rendition of THE BEATLES classic "Don't Let Me Down" last September.

In May 2024, P.O.D. released its eleventh album, "Veritas", via Mascot Records. The album was a Top 10 hit across the U.S. Billboard Current Hard Rock, Current Rock, and Current Alternative album charts.

P.O.D. released several singles from the album including "Drop", "Afraid To Die", "I Got That" and "I Won't Bow Down".

"Drop" featured a vocal feature from LAMB OF GOD singer Randy Blythe, while "Afraid To Die" featured JINJER vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk.

Photo credit: Alicia Hauff