POD Interview

Two weeks before the release of the bands fourth album 'Testify' on Atlantic Records, The Gauntlet caught up with POD's drummer, Noah 'Wuv'.

The Gauntlet: How were your holidays?

Wuv: We made it home just in time on the 20th. We did the Staind tour for a month and a half and came home. Then on Christmas Eve, we got a phone call from Jimmy Kimmel that they wanted us to do a New Years Eve show. So we flew out there for Times Square on New Years Eve. It was really cool. It was a last minute thing. Just the fact that we were playing for all these people live made it amazing. They had 10 blocks of speakers and teleprompters everywhere.

The Gauntlet: That's not something you can really promote.

Wuv: No, was a huge party and celebration, a good time.

The Gauntlet: POD doesn't seem like the biggest party band out there.

Wuv: [laughs] We had a good time out there, we know how to take care of it, trust me.

The Gauntlet: In two weeks, POD will be releasing it's fourth full length album titled 'Testify' on Atlantic Records. How does this album compare to the previous three?

Wuv: I love all the records you know what I mean. I like the fact that on this one we worked with Glen Ballard. We chose a different angle producer-wise. It was really cool to have him with us and guide us through the process. There were a lot of elements on this album that we probably wouldn't have had without Ballard. We got to work on the album out in Palm Springs at a couple different houses. It was cool to get away from the everyday life. Whenever we wanted to, we could write songs and jam them out and be inspired. It was a cool process. The POD element is there with the hip-hop flavors and the rock. We had a lot of fun writing this album and that's what I enjoyed the most.

The Gauntlet: Howard Benson produced the last 3 albums. Why didn't you continue working with him as it has done well for the band.

Wuv: We had done three albums with him. It has nothing to do with him at all. As a band we just wanted to go a different route and not pump out the same record. We didn't want to do it at the same studio and get the same tones. We wanted to mix it up and that's the only reason. We wanted to work with someone else and see what they'd bring to the table. Everyone has their own style. It would be cool for someone to bring in their own styles and opinions.

The Gauntlet: When you originally started working on the album, Greg Fiddleman was lined up to produce the album. He was Rick Rubin's sound engineer for many years. Were you trying to get that Rick Rubin sound out of him from the start of the album?

Wuv: Before we did a song with him for the Little Nicky soundtrack. Greg was one of those guys that was hungry and was on fired. We started working with him and it was going to be a co-produced effort with POD and Greg. He's like the next level type of engineer for Rick Rubin. He was more valuable to us as an engineer than as a producer. I'm sure he's a great producer and he does well with other bands, but for us it was more of a capturing the sound. Then we needed to get to a different level with the vocals and we t