Sonny Sandoval performs with P.O.D. during Sick New World festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on May 13, 2023. Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images.

Tastes can change and bands can shine bright then disappear in an instant. But for SoCal hard rock band P.O.D., the mission has remained the same from the start.

“We’ve been doing this 32 years. We love it. We love writing music,” singer Sonny Sandoval said from the band’s bus before a gig in the Midwest earlier this year. “Millions of records sold, touring around the world and we’re still having to prove ourselves every time.”

Sandoval acknowledges the recurring underdog role is sometimes tiresome, but it’s the fuel that keeps the train running. The band, including bassist Mark “Traa” Daniels and guitarist Marcos Curiel, is currently on the road in support of its 11th album, Veritas, a riff-heavy hard rock record.

“This is what we do, man. This is how I feed my kids and put them through college,” Sandoval said. “We’re still out here hustling and grinding. I wish we had it Metallica-style, but for whatever reason, we missed that boat.”

The vocalist noted that some of the bands that P.O.D came up with have opted only for the road as they’ve gotten older.

“There’s still bands now that are selling out arenas, and they don’t put out music,” Sandoval said. “I don’t know why they don’t, but that’s never even been a choice for us; that’s what we do. We’re a band — I want to keep doing music even when I can’t tour anymore.”

It was a humble beginning for a band with big dreams back in the early ‘90s, operating independently and playing shows around San Diego, branching out when the group’s schedules aligned.

“We knew there was something there,” Sandoval said. “We would take a couple weeks’ vacation from our jobs during the summer, and we’d hit the road and play shows outside of California.”

Working then, working now. Sandoval says the blue-collar mindset the band had when it formed is still the one it holds when it takes the stage today.

In 1996 P.O.D. took its biggest risk.

“We had to take a downgrade by quitting our jobs to give this a shot, but we really did believe in it,” Sandoval said.

The gamble paid off. The band caught the ear of Atlantic Records, and in 1999 its major label debut, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, hit the shelves. The record spawned a pair of hits and its faith-based message got the attention of the gospel music industry, but it was just the appetizer for what was to come.

The group launched into the stratosphere with 2001’s Satellite. While the record was loaded with hit singles, one song in particular that managed to tap into the cultural consciousness was “Youth of the Nation.” The song  was an anthemic search for answers in the wake of a rise in school shootings, particularly one close to home.

“When we were writing [“Youth”], we were literally blocks from Santana High School when it happened,” Sandoval said. “We saw the helicopters, heard the sirens and turned on the news.”

The track was born in the midst of a turning point in society, and Sandoval says that the advent of social media has made the song’s message more relevant with time.

“Twenty-three years later, we’re still asking what the heck is going on with our kids,” he said. “It was hard enough to live back then; my mind was already racing. Now our kids are dealing with such an overload in their mind.”

The unexpected success of “Youth of the Nation,” along with massive tracks like “Alive,” “Boom” and “Satellite” all took over rock radio with an uplifting and hopeful message.

“It’s the people that say, ‘Dude, your music saved my life,’ or ‘I was going to kill myself and “Alive” came on the radio’ — it’s those stories that give me that much more fuel to keep going,” Sandoval said. “If not, I would have quit a long time ago.”

On some past records, the band has drawn from a wide variety of influences well beyond the boundaries of rap-rock. For Veritas, Sandoval said it was all about getting back to P.O.D.’s basics.

“I hate McDonald’s, and we know it’s going to kill us, but it’s the most recognizable logo across the world,” Sandoval said. “You can’t feed everybody a gourmet restaurant; not everybody’s a foodie.”

Veritas sees P.O.D. collaborating with musicians like Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe on opener “Drop.” The two crossed paths on the annual ShipRocked cruise. Sandoval said he helped get H.R. from Bad Brains on the boat to jam with the other bands. Blythe was a mutual friend of the punk rock legend. Sandoval and Blythe made a connection that would come in handy once P.O.D. got back in the studio.

“He’s such a sweetheart and a lot more than just a metal lover,” Sandoval said. “When we were writing that record, we could hear him on it. I took a long shot and texted him. He responded right away and told me to send him the song.”

In addition to touring Veritas, which will see P.O.D. playing Aftershock in Sacramento in October, Sandoval said he has a solo album of reggae songs that he made during pandemic lockdowns that’s ready for release. He said he plans to release it as the touring cycle for Veritas begins to wind down.

“I just hope that somebody, someday will tell me ‘Hey, I really appreciate your gourmet burger,’” he said.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.