MTV: Let's talk about the Warriors, as your fans are known. Why are they called that?
Sandoval: Because they're loyal. We're thankful for every new fan, but there's a lot of kids [that know us from when] we used to play their back yards. We were playing wherever we could, sleeping on their floors, and they were buying us lunch and dinner. With what we're about and what we stand for ... there are a lot of kids that are proud of us. They were more proud when we got signed than we were. Now, when these kids come out, it's genuine. It's not like, "This is my flavor-of-the-month because they have a hit song." They're coming to our shows to experience what we experience. It's kind of like magic.
Daniels: A lot of them were down with us when the style of music we were doing back in '92 wasn't even cool.
Bernardo: They're responsible for the reaction we get in certain cities. We'll go through the cities we've been playing for eight, nine years, and those kids ... are taking P.O.D.'s name and blowing it up all over the city. Every one of our bus drivers gets mad 'cause we let everybody on the bus. They're constantly looking at the carpet, and we're like, "Dude, we'll clean it up."
MTV: As the band gets bigger and more successful and you have more responsibilities, are you worried about not having as much time to hang out with fans after shows?
Daniels: It's important for us to make time.
Bernardo: That's the biggest argument between us and our tour manager. We'll go to a show, and they'll say, "OK, we can have 250 people [come back and see you]." We'll sit there for three hours, just signing stuff and talking to people, and there will still be a huge line. We'll just be like, "We ain't leaving, dude."
Sandoval: We can't leave.
Daniels: As long as they're standing there, we have to do it.
Sandoval: We'll sacrifice a little time, a little sleep, whatever. There are times that you wake up in the morning and do press until 10 minutes before you go onstage. And then right after, we have to catch a flight. Sometimes we'll even let them know from the stage. "Hey, we're catching this flight, we don't even have a chance to go and take a shower, but we're gonna be back and make it up to you." We always want that intimate connection. Even if the stages get bigger, you better make way, 'cause we're coming into the audience. ... If it slows down in any way, that's because it was absolutely impossible. But if there was a moment where we could do it, then we're doing it.
MTV: The Santana High School shooting that happened in March occurred right near your practice space. How did being so close to that tragedy affect the album?
Sandoval: The song [we did about it] is called "Youth of the Nation." [It's] about what kids today go through. This is a tough time. We realize that, and we've actually done some benefits for the Columbine shooting. For this one, we were practicing less than a mile away. We went to practice and there were helicopters and police cars, and we were wondering what was going on. We get in the studio, ... and Marcos came up with this eerie riff we were digging. It wasn't heavy, it was just grooving, a little bit darker. Later, when we got home, we found out what had happened. That song became "Youth of the Nation," and we added a kid's choir to bring some innocence to it. It's a serious contrast, but it's a serious song.
Daniels: The vibe we were trying to go for was sort of that Pink Floyd The Wall-type of sound. Just not as gloomy.
Sandoval: We've always been about positivity. We've always tried to put that message of love out there, that message of hope. There are some aggressive songs, but once you get through the album, we know it's an uplifting thing. Even with the single, "Alive," we want to encourage people. We don't want to bring anybody down. It's almost our human nature to tear each other down, so for us, in our music, we always want you to feel good. Hopefully, we've accomplished that with this record.
Feeling uplifted and "Alive," giving props to Bad Brains and not preaching from the stage ... NEXT >>>
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