Friday March 17, 2006

Deep roots

Reggae-loving rock outfit P.O.D. may not be fashionable, but the fiery conviction on its new album is admirable, as IZUAN SHAH discovers.

PERHAPS these days, the moody, heavy rock of P.O.D. has been overshadowed by cooler, younger bands of the indie and retro persuasion. But after almost 15 years and seven million records sold, the band isn't about to lose sleep about the current rock trends.

P.O.D. guitarist Jason Truby will be the last person to get a slim-tie, form-fitting shirts and go for the hipster indie look. Neither will his bandmates – frontman Sonny Sandoval, bassist Traa Daniels and drummer Noah “Wuv” Bernardo.

The last time this writer had spoken to the band was in 2001 when it had just made the hit-heavy album Satellite.

Rasta-rock group P.O.D. (Payable On Death)'s, from left: Noah ‘Wuv’ Bernardo, Jason Truby, Sonny Sandoval and Traa Daniels.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile,” laughed Truby, over the phone recently from his home in Little Rock, Arkansas in the United States.

A lot has gone down in those four years: Truby jumped into the shoes of original guitarist Marcos Curiel in 2002, immediately stamped his mark with the Matrix: Revolutions single Sleeping Awake, contributed heavily to the self-titled “transition album”, and toured the world.

As for the recording process, Truby has adopted a wonderfully balanced work/family arrangement for himself, flying in to San Diego (P.O.D.’s hometown immortalised in song, Southtown) for rehearsal periods and band meetings.

“We’ve been old friends, we toured together when I was in another band (Living Sacrifice) – we go back about 10 years. We’re from the same school (of thought),” he said.

So has P.O.D.’s musical consumption changed since the reggae bent of a few years ago?

“Oh, those guys still love reggae, they live it. I’m come more from jazz and classical, but I appreciate any music that’s good and that I can pull from. I’m more of a Pat Metheny kind of guy, although I love heavy rock. I like Miles Davis and John Coltrane too.”

On the band’s new album Testify, Truby’s distinct touch has assimilated well with P.O.D.’s aggressive output.

Even if the current radio track, Goodbye for Now, offers nothing new sonically from the band’s previous singles, but it showcases Truby’s outstanding devotion to crafting the P.O.D. sound.

Replacing Curiel has been a creatively-difficult task, but Truby feels that he’s finally done it on Testify.

“His formula worked well for P.O.D. and brought them success. I’m just a different player with a different approach. I’m really into more diverse playing,” added the guitarist, who released a collection of instrumental acoustic guitar odes, String Theory, in 2004.

Truby's subtle, music-centric guitar nuances may be overlooked on Testify, with the largesse of Sandoval’s booming vocal presence, the band's unwavering hip-hop foundation and the overwhelming reggae/Rastafarian strains.

But he thinks the band's overall sound is important – not the individual's taste in the music.

“It was the most important time to pull from every one of our influences, but at the same time you can only venture out of the box so much until it’s not a rock band anymore. We’re a rock ‘n’ roll band, so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

So what’s with the lightweight first single?

“Well, you gotta be played on radio, man. You want to be played, and you have to. You have to be a bit obedient to pop music in that sense.”

A photo on the album sleeve sees the band in sharp suits, suspenders and saloon hats – highly unexpected from the raggedy band that gave us the ghetto anthem Southtown.

Truby laughed when I rib him about this.

“Yeah, you know we’d never play live in those clothes! The label told us to make it classy and to style it up a bit. As long as it doesn’t mess with the music too much, I don’t mind pimping out a bit.”

With Testify, Truby noted that the band had aimed to make the record of their career.

“I think we’ve done that. It’s 2006, and we’re not boys anymore – we’re men. We wanted the music to reflect that.”

Testify is a title that speaks for itself, Truby believes.

“It’s just us telling them, ‘Hey man, whatever you believe in – testify,’ because if you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for everything. Whatever it is in your daily life, if you believe in it, stand up for it. And if you don’t believe in anything, start standing up for something that’s close to you. Don’t be afraid. Life will be tough anyway.”

Rapper Matisyahu, who guests on the album’s reggae-laden Roots in Stereo and Strength of My Life, is Jewish – all the more reason the band wanted to work with him.

“We wanted Damian Marley, but we changed our minds because that would have been predictable of us. We tracked down Matisyahu, who has a different belief from us. Our doctrines may be different, but at the end of the day, we both believe in God,” explained Truby.

Besides pop-rock wizard Glen Ballard who produced and played keyboards on Testify, other heavy-duty collaborators include ghetto-rap legends Boo-Ya T.R.I.B.E. (P.O.D.’s San Diego buddies), rasta-rapper Sick Jacken of Psycho Realm and sessionist Suzie Katayama on cello for Goodbye for Now.

“At the rate the world’s going, it’s hard no matter where you live. It could all head straight towards anarchy. So we decided to make a stand and fight for a better world for our kids to live in. That’s what the album means.”

The band’s legions of fans have remained loyal to the band – despite the rock trends – and have been driving P.O.D. ahead with their support.

“Our story’s not finished yet, and as long as people want to hear it, we’re going to keep going.”

As for touring this part of the world, the guitarist seemed audibly excited when I assured him that Kuala Lumpur is indeed near Bangkok, where his half-Thai wife, Audra, hails from.

“I promise, sometime this year, P.O.D. will be down in South-East Asia. I’ve got to visit my wife’s family there.”

And Truby knows there are a lot of Warriors (the band's fans) here, and promises that P.O.D. will come.

“They’re the main reason we’ll be there,” he said. “So keep your ears open for us.”

eCentral

Friday March 17, 2006

Deep roots