10 Years, P.O.D.

After a year and a half on the road touring 2010's Feeding The Wolves, 10 Years reached a turning point. It was time to move forward and take full control of their career by launching their own label, Palehorse Records. In addition, the band decided to self-produce their fourth album, Minus the Machine, at drummer/guitarist Brian Vodinh's Kashmir Recording.

Splitting up with a major label after five years was "a very scary step to take," Hasek admits. "It's like breaking up with a longtime girlfriend. You're used to the motions, but when it becomes stale and unhappy, you need to move on and get energy back into your life. There was no anger on either side. We just painlessly parted ways."

Working together as a band for the first time since writing the Gold-selling album The Autumn Effect helped 10 Years go back to their roots, without label-enforced pressure to create a radio-friendly "hit," and free to experiment with the hard rock sounds that lie at the core of their music. "Our true fans who buy the albums, not just the singles, understand that our singles, for the most part, misrepresent the entire album," says Hasek. "As a band, we like to explore more and go a little left of center with song structures. We wanted to create an album that has no boundaries, and where we didn't have to make every song 'three minutes and 30 seconds' for a label to approve it. There's a fine line with that, of course, and we're very aware of it. We all grew up on rock music, and as many albums as we've written, the way we've written them, it's ingrained in us to work within a time frame that fits radio. There are definitely songs that work well for that, but as a whole, we wanted this album to represent a journey in a sense."

This chapter of 10 Years began in 2001, when Hasek took over as vocalist. Three years later they released their independent album, Killing All That Holds You, featuring the groundbreaking single "Wasteland," which led to their signing with Universal Records. "That song was created in 2001 or 2002," says Hasek. "We weren't seeking to write a smash single. We were just writing music." The Autumn Effect (2005) led to widespread radio and video play, a fiercely loyal fan base, and tours with heavyweights like Linkin Park, Korn and the Deftones. When their sophomore effort, Division, was released in 2008, 10 Years had cemented their place as one of hard rock's top contenders and most sought-after live bands. Still, says Hasek, despite the success, "it all came to a head" with the band's 3rd major label release, Feeding The Wolves. "When you feel like you're being told to go through motions and jump through hoops, it takes the heart out of it," he says. "We know that we need a hit and we understand that it's important. However, as musicians, we're not a band that says, 'We're going to make a hit.' It's better to do what comes naturally and then figure out the after-effect."

With that in mind, 10 Years created their most powerful songs to date for Minus The Machine, with Hasek again relying on personal experiences for his lyrics. "Everyone asks about my inspiration for lyrics, and the best thing I can give them is a very generic answer: life," he says. "Life is the experience — it's everything you go through: the ups, the downs. I tend to gravitate more toward the therapy method. I'm not great at writing happy pop songs. So, I usually get the negative emotions out through music. As a person, I'm very happy and thankful for my life, but when it comes to lyrics, it's therapy for me."

One thing that won't change is 10 Years' connection with their fans. With the release of Minus The Machine, the band is looking forward to hitting the road, performing in close contact with their dedicated audience. "After the last touring cycle, we realized where we should strive to be, and that's to be totally fine in the club environment," says Hasek. "We don't plan to chase after arena rock or amphitheaters. If things like that happen, then so be it, but we live and die by the loyalty of the club audiences. Our fans are loyal. They travel with us, and they want us to be loyal to ourselves. That's what keeps them coming back. What we tried to do on this album is really give them what they want and what they need because they've been so good to us through the ups and downs of our career."

"First and foremost, when it's all said and done, we're proud of this album in its entirety," he says. "That speaks volumes to us because we're our own worst critics. We pick everything apart. An album is your child, it's your baby, and you know it better than anyone. To sit back and be 100 percent proud of what we've accomplished is so gratifying, and we think everything else will fall into place. We hope that everyone will enjoy what we've tried to do."


"Music comes down to passion," says P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval. "There are not a lot of bands out there
today who have that. But I think that feeling is coming back around again."

P.O.D. (Payable on Death) certainly has the right to talk about passion in music. Passion has been front and center since the band formed in 1992 in San Diego, CA, and all the way up to the release of their eighth and latest record, Murdered Love. Over the last two decades, the group has sold over 10 million albums (including 2001's triple platinum record Satellite), garnered four No. 1 music videos, three Grammy nominations and over a dozen rock
radio hits, including "Southtown," "Alive," "Youth of the Nation" and "Goodbye For Now." Music trends have come and gone, but P.O.D.'s fanbase has seemingly only grown stronger.

Still, after the release of 2008's When Angels & Serpents Dance, the band took a lengthy hiatus. "You can blame me," says Sandoval. "The record business was changing, and we all wanted to get back to our personal lives and families.
When we do P.O.D., we want to enjoy what we're doing, and not to do it to pay the bills or tour just to tour." Fortunately, the time off served the band, and Sandoval, well. "Yeah, I got in a good place again. P.O.D. means so
much to us and our fans – there's a lot of love for what we do. I wanted to keep inspiring and encouraging people."

The band initially reconvened with a few jam sessions and the intent to put out a hardcore, Bad Brains-style EP and tour a little bit. But the initial recordings were strong enough to convince the group to tackle a new album. "By taking a break, we kind of got back on the same page," says guitarist Marcos Curiel. "Now, everyone has the same attitude going forward, the same feeling we had when we did those first two first two big albums The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and Satellite."

The most startling aspect of Murdered Love lies in its diversity and the band's songwriting having penned every track on the album. The opener "Eyez" might be the band's heaviest song yet, with a cameo by Hatebreed's Jamey
Jasta. It contrasts sharply with "West Coast Rock Steady," a playful hip-hop ode to their San Diego roots featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill. Meanwhile, "Panic & Run" is full-tilt punk, "Bad Boy" brings a funky swagger and first single "Lost in Forever" ties it all together with an equal mix of aggressiveness and melody.

"The band is a fusion of all our musical passions," says Curiel. "We can jump from punk to reggae to rap to metal. And funk -- people forget we had a little funk on our first few indie releases. So on a few songs here, we took it
back. The whole process was really organic."

Lyrically, the record finds P.O.D. at its most thoughtful and introspective as the band contemplates their lives and the world around them. On "Lost in Forever" Sandoval shows a mixture of hope and unease to questioning the
cruelty of man, as the band also does in the brutal title track "Murdered Love." "It's about people who have died when all they brought was love" explains Curiel. The sparse, catchy "Beautiful," contemplates the afterlife while

the teeth-rattling album closer "I Am," finds Sandoval opening with the vivid line: "I am the murderer, the pervert, sick to the core" and never lets up. It's the band at its darkest and most confrontational.

"I had been doing a lot of outreach to kids, talking at a lot of schools," says the singer. "I see what they go through – suicide, rape, addiction –and that song is just about being vulnerable and honest. They're wondering if they're screw-ups, if they're deserving of love and compassion. "

The band recorded Murdered Love with Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson (Kelly Clarkson, My Chemical Romance, Daughtry), a long-time friend of the group and the man behind three of its biggest records. "He's family," says Sandoval, then laughs. "He has the power to choose who he wants to work with, and I think he wanted to go back and make a real rock record."

To promote the record, the band has already set up a late spring/early summer headlining tour, as well as hitting a number of festivals and larger shows this year. "It seems like there's Warriors in every city," says Curiel, noting the band's affectionate nickname for their diehard fans. "They're loyal. And it's great, because we'll see people who loved us around the Satellite era bringing their kids." Given the closeness between the band and their fanbase, it's no surprise that P.O.D.'s new logo was the result of an online contest with their fans.

In the end, Murdered Love showcases a band at its most energetic and vital, nearly two decades after its debut. Sandoval agrees.

"This is the best record we've ever done," says the singer. "And that can only come from what we've put into this. We're the same four down-to-earth guys we were when we were putting out indie records. There's an honesty and
an underdog vibe to everything we do that you can definitely hear in our music."