It's always been my heart that God would save people through this crazy music somehow, someway, His way.
— Sonny Sandoval
I listen to a lot of old-school worship music.
I'm a born-again Christian - if everybody can agree what that means. I believe in Jesus. I believe that He died for my sins.
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.
Kids come up to us all the time and say, 'Hey, I'm not a Christian, but what you guys are doing is cool.' Or they say, 'Man, there's something different going on when you guys play.' I believe that's the Spirit of God touching who God intends to touch, whether it's just one person or 50,000 people.
We're not a typical Christian band. We've got dreadlocks and tattoos.
I could have continued to get into trouble, but I wanted to do something positive with myself - and music is the best way.
My grandmother and mother were from Italy, so I was raised Catholic. That kind of just meant going to church on Easter and Christmas. I saw a radical transformation in my family when they started going to a Christian church. I watched them fall in love with God.
Kanye West deceives many and will lead many people astray.
All we know how to do is write music and love God.
I love the nation of Israel. I love Jewish people. My King was Jewish, and I embrace that.
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?'
I'm a laid-back, shy kinda dude, and it wasn't until when I was 19 that my life kind of changed.
At first, we were militant about our faith, really in people's faces. We used to say, 'I don't care if they kick us off the stage - I'm gonna tell them about Jesus!' But what good did that do? They never invited us back to the club.
We grew up on hip-hop, metal, and hard core, which... reflect a certain amount of the chaos and confusion that are part of daily life.
We will not go out there and make negative music for selfish gain.
God is love.
I remember hearing, back in the day, so-and-so got a deal, and bands are spending the money. Some of them live in the old days, where money is coming in and budgets are endless, but bands have to pay that back. Some bands just don't realize that.
I'm trying to make sure that for myself and for my family, I'm staying as close to the heart of God that I possibly can.
I'm a daddy first; I'm a husband, and I'm a lover of God and people.
I went through those times in my life where I started to get bitter and angry, and you're like, 'Why am I even a Christian? I don't like any of these people that call themselves Christians.' That's when I had to go spend time with God, and He had to remind me I'm walking with Him and not these people.
We're going out there whether it's Satan's personal party or not. We're going to sing our hearts out, and we're going to worship God, no matter where we are.
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.
Payable On Death is actually a banking term, when someone passes on, what someone leaves behind. We related that to Jesus on the cross, and by his death, our sins are paid, the debt is paid. We have salvation if we want it. We got tired of saying Payable On Death, so we went to P.O.D.
I'm a man of faith.
