Guitarist steers P.O.D. in new direction
By ALAN SCULLEY
Get Out

After a dozen-year career that saw P.O.D. gradually work their way up from the San Diego scene, eventually land a major label deal and, finally, with the 2002 double-platinum CD “Satellite,” enjoy a major commercial breakthrough, the group faced their biggest challenge yet.

In February 2003, guitarist Marcos Curiel quit the band.
As the group's lone guitarist, he'd played a major role in defining P.O.D.’s sound. He also had a hand in helping the remaining band members — singer Sonny Sandoval, drummer Noah Bernardo and bassist Traa Daniels — find a replacement.

Several years earlier, P.O.D. had toured with the Christian rock band Living Sacrifice. During that period, the group got to know and jam with that band's guitarist, Jason Truby.
Despite the band's familiarity with Truby, getting him to step in as the new P.O.D. guitarist wasn't a foregone conclusion. Living Sacrifice had broken up and Truby had moved to Arkansas with his wife and family and had started a lawn care business.

“We hadn't even been in contact with him for years,” Bernardo says. “So it was more of us reaching out to see if he was even interested. We kind of asked him first if he would think about it and consider it.”

Of course, joining P.O.D. at this point in the band's career was an opportunity few musicians would be able to resist. “Satellite” sold 2.7 million copies in the United States alone.

After Truby signed on, the band got to work on their new CD, “Payable On Death” which represents a shift in the group’s sound. The rap vocals that had been a major feature of P.O.D.’s earlier albums were replaced almost entirely by sung vocals.
Bernardo said Truby, whose guitar style is considerably more melodic than Curiel’s riff-heavy approach, helped push the group away from the rap-rock sound.