SONNY SANDOVAL

Even before the mainstream knew about P.O.D., we were going for several years underground. For me, those were the times where it really was about the music and really about the fan base.

To know that so many people have our backs and support us is an awesome thing. You need people saying, 'Hey man, I'm with you all the way.'

I remember hearing, back in the day, so-and-so got a deal, and bands are spending the money. Some of them live in the old days, where money is coming in and budgets are endless, but bands have to pay that back. Some bands just don't realize that.

We're all confused and have problems and struggles.

Kanye West deceives many and will lead many people astray.

We want to represent the things we believe.

I'm really not the biggest metal fan as it is. I'm more of a hard-street-punk kind of kid, but I also loved hip hop and reggae music, so we have always sort of refused a street style that is something that we are used to. Something that makes us comfortable and sounds good to us.

When we first started, I didn't know there was Christian rock or Christian music. I just thought we were a rock band that stuck to our convictions... Like every other hardcore band out there sang or screamed what they thought, we did the same thing.

My grandmother and mother were from Italy, so I was raised Catholic. That kind of just meant going to church on Easter and Christmas. I saw a radical transformation in my family when they started going to a Christian church. I watched them fall in love with God.

Whoever is in charge of the artist will always have the upper hand. They act like it's the artists' world, but it's the other way around, so they're going to do whatever they want to do.

It's important to tour with bands that you get along with.

If we do a record, and there's a reggae song, it's not shocking to us. If we do an all hip-hop song, it's not shocking to us. We all listen to that sort of music. It's not about what's in at the time; it's what feels right to us and what we're comfortable in doing.

I know God is watching out for me, and he's saying, 'OK, son, watch your step now. You can be in these places, but just be careful. Keep your guard up.'

I went through those times in my life where I started to get bitter and angry, and you're like, 'Why am I even a Christian? I don't like any of these people that call themselves Christians.' That's when I had to go spend time with God, and He had to remind me I'm walking with Him and not these people.

I grew up in Imperial Beach, surfing and going to the beach - my son plays baseball at the park.

'The Awakening' is meant to be listened to in its entirety. Every song ultimately explores a character dealing with life, making mistakes, fighting, trying. But we also live in a singles-type world, and it works on that level, too.

We never claimed to be a Christian band; we just were outspoken about our faith. It's not like we knew there was a scene.

We don't need a resume to come to God. It's not our good deeds. We come broken, and we need a savior.

We don't tell you what to think or believe in. That's not our job. We're rock musicians. Our job is to rock.

I was born into hip hop and reggae, and then I started listening to more hardcore and punk bands like Bad Brains and the Suicidal Tendencies; they opened up a whole new world for me. They had something to say, and I could relate to them.

I'm a laid-back, shy kinda dude, and it wasn't until when I was 19 that my life kind of changed.

It's religion that killed our King, you know what I'm saying - that religious idea that has distorted the love of God, and now the world doesn't want it. They don't want religion. They want Jesus in their heart. They want Him. They just don't want the religion.

At every Ozzfest show, there's horns and devils somewhere; there's some kind of darkness somewhere. But the thing is, this is a stage, homey, and those fools are entertainers. And you know what, it shows! It's fake.

When I joined this band, I never thought of myself as a singer. I just did whatever I could, which was rap. And then, over time, I've grown, and we've developed and tried different things. It all happened gradually and naturally.

To me, Christianity was so conservative and stuffy, but for me, it was just a relationship with God. The Church relationship was just so stuffy.