| Summer time in P.O.D.’s hometown of San Ysidro, California is very much like summer anywhere – plenty of barbeques, time spent poolside with the family and, of course, an endless procession of summer tours and festivals. Thrash rockers P.O.D. may be family men at heart, but according to guitarist Jason Truby, they take both the heat and mayhem in stride.
It has been a wild ride for Truby who joined the Ozzfest veterans following the departure of founding member Marcos in early 2003. Whisked off to the studios in order to fulfill the band’s obligation to record the song and video for "Sleeping Awake" on the Matrix: Reloaded soundtrack, replacement strummer Truby received a crash course in the Payable On Death method.
"It was the first song I worked on with those guys," says Truby "It all happened so quickly. We knocked it out within a week of the proposal and boom – we were on the red carpet... In the end the decision for the soundtrack was between Tool, Nine Inch Nails and us. And I’m glad they decided to go with us."
Recording "Sleeping Awake" may have been Truby’s first official outing with P.O.D., but he had already crossed paths with them on the So-Cal music circuit years before while working with his band Living Sacrifice. This rubbing of elbows led to an auspicious meeting of the minds when P.O.D. found they were lacking a guitarist in the face of a looming Hollywood contract.
Their next studio effort Payable On Death proved that when forming a successful Christian head-banging act, a good sense of timing is half the battle, but the other half is spiritual solidarity, and luckily Truby is blessed with plenty of both. Although their positive lyrics and seemingly boundless optimism may set them apart from their dark brethren, the example set by their enduring bonds of friendship have earned P.O.D. the respect of audiences and tour mates alike.
"I look at it this way," says Truby, explaining P.O.D.’s holier-than-thou reputation "If you’re a plumber they don’t put you in a category for Christian plumbers, or Christian landscapers, etc… At the end of the day everybody believes something. But who asks the Beastie Boys how their Buddhism influences their music? We have a faith and that comes out in what we do. We sing about faith and love and making the world a better place. Sometimes it doesn’t wash. We don’t get the segregation. We don’t exploit that image because the stereotypes hurt us. People who might otherwise enjoy our music won’t even give it a chance because it’s been labeled as Christian. I don’t know how that comes about, but somebody must be watchin’ for it, ‘cause it’s huge down here. Personally, we hope the whole stereotype thing will disappear. Then people can just listen to our music and say ‘Man that’s a great rock band.’" |
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