Quotes from Sonny Sandoval

Someone like a Bob Marley - he was singing Scripture.

Christian bookstores have banned our records, but we don't need them.

I'm the dirtiest of the dirty. I mess up all the time. I suck as a Christian. I can't stand religion. But I love Jesus, and I'm trying.

When you become a Christian, all of a sudden you start to live on this rapture mentality, like tomorrow the world's going to end. You live in that frenzy. We come from the streets, so the mentality was like, 'Yo, dude, what's up? You're not going to tell me I'm not down with God. What's up!'

People are buying music from 12-year-olds. No one realizes they didn't create this. They didn't write this. They didn't make this. All they have to do is press play, and you have a band.

A lot of bands just entertain you. I'm all about entertainment - I do it every day - but there's only certain things in your life that stick around. I think P.O.D. has done that for a lot of people, and I'm happy for that.

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.

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

All the time, even before we had mainstreamed, it was like we were never really Christians because of the way we looked. Or, you know, we were never Christian enough, or we're too Christian at times. You can't please people.

I'm a daddy first; I'm a husband, and I'm a lover of God and people.

We were always just a hardcore band that came out and said what we believed in, but we also talked about the streets and the stuff that we were into and the struggles and everything we were going through. Once people found out we were Christian, it was always, 'Is that Christian music?'

There is... a greater sense of divine purpose when we're playing at all-Christian rock shows. In clubs or bars, we know that the audience primarily came to see a show, so we try not to get preachy and instead let the music do most of the talking.

'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.

You got to look the part. You have to look like all the successful rock bands look. This is what they do. That's never been us. You know, it's a hard game to play: at the end of the day, we are just a rock band and have so many different cultures of music that we have grown up on, because we are fans of all different kinds of music.

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.

It's a dying art to play live anymore and just play raw. Who cares if you make a mistake? That's punk rock. Just go out and go for it and make some noise.

It is the power of God that keeps us rolling on. It's real good. When you know it to be real and true, that's when you have to share it with whoever will listen.

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.

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.

P.O.D. kind of built that brand name. We came out and have been open about our faith. We've always been a positive band in a world that's pretty crazy and wild.

We will not go out there and make negative music for selfish gain.

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 have people on the road with us - our wives, our families and pastors. We come alongside each other, and we're always in prayer.

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.