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On September 11, 2001, while terrorists were attacking America, another, much less significant, event was taking place: P.O.D.'s Satellite was being placed on store shelves. The band was already on the rise, but after the 9/11 attacks, Satellite, with its songs of hope and healing, was good medicine indeed. The album—with hits like "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation"—went on to sell more than 3 million copies. Two years later, the band, still riding Satellite's high, released Payable on Death, and it … well, it didn't bomb, but it hardly took off, selling just 500,000-plus copies. P.O.D., which had been on MTV and the radio about, oh, every 30 seconds, slowly faded from the limelight.

But now they're poised for something of a comeback. After several delays, they've finally finished the highly anticipated Testify, which drops January 24. In the meantime, to satisfy anxious fans, P.O.D. is now releasing The Warriors EP, Vol. 2, with a run of only 40,000 copies. With two albums in two months, we thought it was the right time to catch up with P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval.

In this exclusive interview—the first of two parts—Sandoval discusses P.O.D.'s somewhat rocky history with Christian retail and the world of CCM, how they protect themselves spiritually in the midst of temptation and darkness, and their respect for C. S. Lewis and Billy Graham. In part two of the interview, which we'll post in late January when Testify releases, Sandoval discusses the new album—and a whole lot more.

P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval (front) with bandmates Wuv, Truby and Traa

So, you've got a new Warriors EP. Why now?

Sonny Sandoval Since Testify got pushed back till January and we've been away for so long, and since we had some extra material, we thought, Why don't we just put out something to say that we're still here? We haven't forgotten everybody. It's a mix of some live stuff, some demo stuff, and we actually went into the studio and did a whole new reggae song. It's fun, and it came out a lot better than we expected.

I don't know if Christian retail is carrying it, but they haven't always been very accommodating to your albums. They didn't like the cover art for The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999) and pulled it from their shelves. Then they did the same with Payable on Death (2003). How did all that make you feel?

Sandoval It's frustrating. But even more, it's just confusing, because when we first signed with Atlantic, we made the point that our independent records had sold well in Christian retail, and we wanted to continue to do that. So Atlantic went through the hoops and made it possible for that to happen. Then when our record [Southtown] came out, Christian retail said they can't put it in the bookstores because of the cover art. It didn't make sense.

We were like, "Wait a minute. We're trying to make this stand with this major label, Atlantic Records, and you guys [Christian retail] tell them they can't put this in your bookstores?" It was frustrating. And it just doesn't make sense. What is a cover, anyway? The music and the content is still the same. If you think the cover is blasphemous or you think it's not of God, then what is the music going to be about? But we dealt with it. And then it happened again with our last record.

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