Sonny Sandoval - Lead Singer of P.O.D. / Being A Whosoever In Culture

from southern california this is ryan reece show post your questions using ryan reese on his instagram twitter or facebook are you ready ready all right it is going down tonight i got my good friend my brother my homie my dog sonny sandoval the lead singer from the band pod and co-founder of the whosoever's sonny dude it's been a long time since you've been on the show i think you're on when we first started yeah over at the other studio over at uh um k-wave yep yeah it's been a minute dude it's been actually we were on the radio about a month ago and they said that was our sixth year of being on oh wow is that gnarly time flies seems like you just started this thing i know yesterday i know it's crazy we and sean were tripping out they were telling us it's like the anniversary and we just can't believe what god's done over the years it started with one station and now it's on over 100 and it's just it's just cool to see and people are still calling us up and like hey we want to pick you up over here or pick up over there and it's just been cool because um it's been a a show that disciples people love i mean for people on the show like taste makers and cultures like someone like yourself like you're out in the mainstream you're a band you've been doing it forever but yet you're a believer and you're you're just living the great commission where god has you because a lot of people think if you become a christian you have to become a pastor or an evangelist or work in the church to actually do ministry but what i love about our relationship and our relationship goes way back and there's i mean you've obviously you've been a big influence in my life you know um it's in the book you know talking about how you've impacted my life and stuff but it's been cool just to watch your life and how you've uh just been living for christ in the world not of it but really doing the messy ministry of of of christ and um you know tell just tell the listeners basically how you even you know just a rough overview how you got into the band because i want i want to talk about how you got into the band and the purpose and then just how god's been using you and everything you've been working on ever since to bring you up to now it's it's a long story but yeah i wasn't raised christian yeah i mean but always had respect for god um god is in is he's woven into my my family line you know what i mean the old my grandmother from italy catholic you know i mean just uh i've always had uh respect for god i just didn't didn't know him you know and then it god just started to pick off people one at a time in my in my family and it was real you know coming from a broken family and and seen a lot of things and just neighborhood stuff um god was um he was constant you know i mean and he became real wasn't just hearing a story about him or you know going to um sunday school i started to see him become real in my family's life and then when my mom was diagnosed with leukemia and she would you know soon after um go to be with the lord i watched her just praise god through all that and that was like basically as she's about to pass yeah yeah she knew she was going to do it and then it was like dude she's yeah anybody at that point would just lose lose themselves you know but she um she fell more in love with god you know with jesus and so that was real to me and so you know pretty much on her dying bed it was like okay i need to make a decision what am i going to do and i at the time i think it was more just uh for her you know um she wanted me to know her jesus so i think at the time it was more like okay lord if if she goes you know we need to settle settle some scores you know so i pretty much asked my or asked jesus to come into my life the same day my mom passed away you know in the parking lot of this this hospital and then i went and whispered into her ear and i said go be with jesus and it wasn't much after that that she took her last breath so from that point on it was like okay i was 19 at the time still trying to grow up that's that's a young you know looking back at being 19 and losing your mom that's that's a pretty gnarly age too i mean at any age you lose your mom but you're you're in that that 19 years leaving high school trying to figure yeah yeah still kind of getting into trouble you want to bounce ideas back off your mom and you know what i mean yeah for sure so i mean at the time i thought i was grown and you knew it all you know what i mean but but you look back and you're like oh yeah i was really was kind of lost at the time you know but um you know at that point it was like okay when she passed it was like okay i'm serious about this i want this jesus that my mom knew and so really just started to um read my bible and go to church and and you know try to give up things that were in my in my life at the time that i knew i was wasn't good for me and but it was just a it was a it was a relationship you know um and at that time um my cousin the you know still my band the drummer love and marcos they were in another thrash band i used to go to parties with them and where they play um and they would you know they were christians um but they had asked me to to join the band which was far left for me you know wasn't something i ever planned or even like doing at the time i don't like being in front of cameras or i'm not really about the me show yeah you're like low-key yeah but when they first asked me i kind of laughed i thought it was a joke and um but then some things happened you know where uh you know but before that i kind of really i really did just ask god i said just i just want you to use my life whatever that means you know here i am falling in love with with jesus and and and knowing you know starting to learn what it means to walk with god and and then the next step is whatever you see god whatever whatever is good in me use it how did you know that that was the call from god because a lot of people ask you know because people want to know what the when they give their life to christ the whole thing is they want to know what that call is you know how do i know i'm in god's will yeah how do i know that god's called me to something like how did you know that it was i i think for me even the time it's not that yet more i knew that it was all new yeah and and and i should just be quiet and sit at god's feet and just kind of soak it all in so that's what i did and then in the same time was just more less learning how to live knowing that my mom's not here anymore too you know what i mean so it was still processing all that um you were getting discipled basically just kind of learning who who christ was i mean i was working i was kind of just i was just walking yeah and um and at the time i knew like i said it was nothing that i wanted to do be in this band but um i was praying about it and and um at the time i had uh taking some time off work and went to do landscaping with my uncle up at in-n-out burger up in fresno and the wednesday night came and we were like oh let's hit up a bible study we went to the local calvary chapel fresno and there was nobody there um and at the time here i am praying about did am i supposed to be in this band like what's going on and then uh we're inside the the church and then um two guys walk in and it was the drummer and the base foot bass player for this band called the crucified and at the time i uh you know i don't know christian music i still don't know christian music you know what i mean it was but i knew the crucified they were you know they were playing for opening up for like pantera they were doing all kinds of they were in the world you know that's sick yeah and i knew of them from i didn't know that from just going i mean they they were christians but it was more it was a scene at the time that because they were awesome you know what i mean yeah they were drawing um people that weren't saved yeah and i had seen them a few times in concert and i was always kind of you know kind of mesmerized by them um just at how bold they were about their faith um and so here i am at this fresno cowboy chapel praying you know what i'm what i'm supposed to do and then here walks in these two guys and i'm just you know we end up talking with them and then it was just like you know it just felt like that was confirmation then um my cousin and i went back to the motel after that before work and then we started writing lyrics for the first song so i just you know i just kind of and again it goes back to my story even um beforehand i was at a crucified concert when my mom was back into the hospital and right right before she passed away and so there's there's more to the story but yeah it was gone appointments it's almost like there's just you know we talk about signs and wonders it's these things where god you know i might not have figured out unless these things happen and it was just kind of obvious that this was a coincidence that's what i called uh you know moving how god works supernatural just in a natural realm it just seems so natural the way it's all laid out but let yeah god's behind the scenes and he's the divine chess player and he's like putting the pieces together and i like when that works that way for me because we're too busy trying to figure things out like where are you lord and i was like dude didn't you see all these things i'm putting in your path you know it's so true we could complicate things so much and god what are you trying to say and he's just like dude i'm doing it i'm doing it i'm i'm showing you yeah and that's that's just convicting even for for me and the place in my life right now i'm constantly going god what do you want to do but then i'm kind of like sit back it's like then last night yesterday i was just like i gotta sit back for a minute and like kind of like look around what's happening things are happening yeah they're not like happening like god what do we do the way you see it the way you want it exactly yeah so god lines it all up he confirms by the leading the spirit as you're in the word confirms for you to be in the band and then how did it so what happened from there you guys were writing we just started writing yeah pretty much and then you know told the other two guys in the band that it was a deal and and um we just started writing songs having fun but but my heart was from the beginning was like i didn't know what i was doing you know this was something new um to be behind this this mic and in front of a crowd but at the time um i really was just grateful that um i was getting to know who jesus was and then i was i was i was i was feeling it at the time you know and i want to hear i want to ask you something as you cause i love the way you talk about jesus so when you started discovering who jesus was from not being a christian until you start reading the the red prince and the stories yeah what like what was your take on this this man they called jesus again i you know i i knew the the hits and the stories you know i mean um from going to youth group here and there or a camp here and there um but i always just thought i was just doing it because it was the good it was good to do you know i mean or even at the time maybe it was what my my mom wanted me to do you know but now that she was gone it was more personal and so now i was responsible for my walk with god you know how much time i spend with the lord how much time i talk to him and i wanted to know who the jesus of the bible was not this kind of a westernized american white blue-eyed um you know jesus and that's and that's what you see like when you're on tour and stuff you see this this this this westernized yeah i have a problem you look at it in culture in culture they see they see jesus as this you know american you know what i mean uh white blue eyed um conservative uh republican all these things you know and and and even if they go even past that they see it as this kind of hypocritical um you know uh what is what's what's the crusader you know what i mean there's they're just they just don't have this picture of jesus and and you know even as a kid i would see like the the guys on tv and they say you know send in thousand bucks and you know your life will change or then then jesus will bless you and you know what i mean all these prosperity type things and all that it's just confusing it's confusing to a kid who's like dude i just you know it's just when the gospel was simple whereas jesus came came to love you forgive you and set you free and it's confusing to society people are that's right they're confused by religion and mostly they're confused by people that say um well dude i am a christian and then it has nothing to do with jesus you know so um and and that happens because we're not perfect we make mistakes and and i've lived kind of especially being in the secular world i've lived with that kind of burden on my shoulders where it's like i don't want to mess up because someone's watching me i don't want to stumble anybody or you know then you realize like dude don't put your eyes on me man i'm so i'm so not perfect you know but but that's why it's a it's a journey and that's what i was asking you is because like here you are you're you're reading about who the jesus is the bible but then you're seeing all the stuff on tv that you know that charismania and yeah yeah they're selling the holy water and yeah no way give a thousand dollars you know yeah that's scary yeah and we just read read the bible see what jesus did with those kind of people in the bible but now here you are with all that being said and then now god's pulling you into the mainstream and you're dealing with people are looking at you now as a christian so they're looking at the baggage from tv but then they're looking at you so the way you're conducting your life with the way you're trying to conduct your life because we're all sinners say by grace obviously and and and god we all have different convictions as well that's that's the one thing that that is so it's like because i was talking my neighbors of their day and you know they were asking about you know birth control or what do you think about in vitro or this and that if god doesn't you know and they just really realized like so many people have so many different views yeah so many topics so many topics and so many stances and everyone thinks they have the right stance right not that not my neighbors they weren't they weren't like judging or anything but they were just kind of asking these questions but here you are now you're in the mainstream in this band yeah and how is that for you to navigate through that atmosphere being a christian and knowing like how the world thinks of christians but yet who you read about in the bible jesus yeah i mean it was a learning lesson you know i i never thought um even once we got in this band it was more just so like dude i just you know i just thought we're gonna play keg parties where all my friends were at so i was like if i'm in this band screaming you know about jesus or about love or you know whatever yeah god's done in my life i figured somebody's gonna listen you know so once uh you know we got our first show outside san diego and then you know then all of a sudden it happened that we can go outside the state and then we jumped on a little tour here and there you know so things just started to happen um but then once we got signed to atlantic you know obviously years later um you guys blew up then yeah then it was a different thing you know all of a sudden now um you're definitely in the public eye you know you're on tv or in magazines um you're networking with all these people in the the business and so you're in the same time you know it's always in the back of my mind i just don't want to mess up man dude the pressure huh it's pressure the pressure because then then i remember getting to a point where it's like a lot of things happen which it's like not that you don't care anymore but you're like you don't care you just like you know you're like dude i have to i'm trying to live my life the best i can and you know but but not even through all my walk through even the industries like it's never changed that uh i mean i would always take the time if someone said hey dude can i talk to you about jesus or can you pray for me that was if anything that was the the best part of a lot of that stuff because i knew that's why i was here i wasn't here because i thought i was a great singer or a front man or i'm yeah i want to be in a band even now i look for it almost 30 years later i still look for the opportunities you know whether it's i could be walking the sound check and if a kid's outside and he's like hey do you guys talk to you for a minute it's like i just i i want that opportunity tips that way it makes all this it makes it make sense sense i've seen it i've seen it over and over um and i've talked about it we've talked about you on the show when you when you've been absent many times about how you know we'll be on tour and and everyone's on the bus doing their thing or whatever and then you're off and there's like a line to you know whatever it could be like 10 people but 10 people when they want to talk to you about deep gnarly stuff oh you know that's a long time that's an all-nighter yeah yeah you're talking about them i gotta go you're talking six hours of like counseling you know what i mean that's a lot of people free people you know when i like couple people lined up i'm like oh dang this is gonna be you know this is gonna be a minute and to take that time and when people start telling you that those real stuff oh yeah but i've seen you do over and over talking to people praying with people and just doing that that jesus ministry it's that model jesus went from town to town village the village you're doing the only thing you're doing is you're doing it in a bus and you're playing music and then you're you're you are doing the messy ministry jesus model but during that time we're going to break in like 10 minutes but before that time i want you to kind of talk about this stuff you're out there you're a christian you're not in a christian band you're a christian in a band and you're writing about what god's doing in your life you don't have to have a christian ban everyone likes to label it like yeah oh he's a christian or he's actually i think he gives them more legitimacy when actually it doesn't really yeah people want the titles it's not you're a you're a believer i want you to be good at what you do if you're going to fix my car i don't want i don't want to see the fish on your card i want you to fix my car the way because you're a great mechanic i don't want to give you my work because you say you love god it's like dude just be known by your actions be known by you know your gift yeah without the title my question to you would be do people call if you didn't have your title christian yeah would people call you a christian plumber would people call you yeah christian no well that's absurd that's absurd let me see your life yeah it make you know you can say it for a band but if it's like dude you're a secretary or you're just you know you're being excellent you're loving god you're everything you're doing is unto god it's like you don't have to be called a christian this or that you know they want the titles yeah so okay when you're going through all this stuff um there was there was kind of a little backlash or not a backlash i would say there was more of like there was like the judgmental christians were coming against you as they always do people whenever you want to do something for christ in the world yeah and be and you're and you're actually relevant with culture yeah you're not 10 years behind as like most of the christian industry right when you're relevant in in like 2021 and you're actually doing ministry and you're in the world all of a sudden you've got all these haters that are like they're not christians well you know what are they doing they're they're with the they're on tour with these bands and this and that and this whole thing and what what how was that uh i know you've talked about it before but how was that you going through this you're you're literally going i'm god's call called me here yeah you're out there you're doing what you're we're just talking about but then you're getting this backlash how did that how did you feel about all that it was here i am when it first started kind of in this band i'm okay i'm just learning what it means to walk with god and i feel like dude i feel good like god's he's gonna use my life or this is there's a there's a reason and then not only that i feel like okay i said the sinner's prayer i'm gonna join this awesome great family yeah that loves god and be a part of something awesome and holy and then the moment you know as a 19 year old you're like hey this would be cool you know be a part of a community that loves god and is feeling the way i'm feeling excited they're ready to go go to war you know yeah we're on the same team and then the moment uh you know you you kind of meet this community and then instantly it's not your story or like let me let me see where this person's heart is it's like oh you have tattoos uh oh you're your band's a little heavy oh your friends are this you know it's all these things because you guys you guys were like the only ones with tattoos back then in the in the christmas world we were we were but we were that's it that's just it it's like we weren't a part of the christian where we were we were in the the hardcore scene the punk scene the underground scene just doing our thing and we're you know we're playing these shows with skinheads with everybody possible these crazy parties crazy underground things and then you know believing all that that there's this community of believers behind us just you know you were popping the christian bubble yeah yeah but see the time i didn't even know that's what it was but it's like we said before like where god does things i remember we were playing all these clubs boys and girls clubs parties all these things we're building up a name in san diego yeah and the first time we get asked to play a kind of a churchy uh christian outreach venue they stopped us on the first song and said that we were not this was not of god so that at that point was like dude okay we've played we're getting known in san diego playing all these clubs bars everywhere and they're digging the sound they're digging our band but the first time we do a christian thing they're like this is not right this is not so so again it was i wasn't angry at it yeah i just was like oh you know what we're not supposed to be here yeah confirmation and it wasn't even until later that you then you did see that there were bands that called themselves christian bands there was a scene and it was like you know even though we would play with with these bands and kind of enter this scene it wasn't a place we were ready to lay our heads it was like dude we we play wherever they ask us to play we're not you know we're not using the name of jesus either to to hype up my ban because if anything the scene that we came from is like you're that's lame i mean that's just flat out yeah you're a christian or you talk about jesus it's that's lame the only reason why they would say oh those guys are christians because we were so um open with our with the lyrics and and we would talk about it on stage and so interviews too right you guys yeah always yeah but at the time you know there was you know there was a straight edge scene there was like the there was a christian scene in the hardcore movement everybody believed in something that's kind of what made the scene was like you're screaming about what you believe in so we kind of took it the same motto like why can't i scream about jesus i didn't know there would be backlash from the world or christians it's just something i was learning at the time so then you start to learn like oh okay so it's because to me jesus just saved my life she's doing something awesome in my heart and mind and soul and and then why wouldn't the world want they're dying to hear this news that i you know they're dying to hear what i have to say to them and all of a sudden the world is like ah keep your jesus to yourself and then the christians are like ah you don't really know who jesus is so it was it was confusing yeah yeah but but all the while still trusting god saying dude we'll we're going to play wherever the doors open and you know what's rad is as you say that i remember that time when we were in a cornerstone for that festival where was that ohio or bushnell illinois no we're out there and this i remember this guy came up to me or us saw you and came up to you because you just shaved your dreads so they were like is that sunny or what it's kind of anything about a year after something like that and uh he was like hey man he's like i got held up at like gunpoint by some skinheads yeah and the basically they i don't know what he did it's something where they're they want to kill him he was at a club where he popped something happened something they wanted to kill yeah they kidnapped him they they beat him up and then they put him in the trunk and they were talking about they were going to go they were driving them out too to go murder him right i remember that and and then all of a sudden and then he then he ended up i think in the front seat or in the back seat or something no he was in the trunk this is i just was talking about the story recently i told the guys that i thought i already told them this story but they never heard it he was in the trunk they threw him in the trunk they were taking him out to the woods to kill him they were bumping south town on a tape okay the moment they opened up the trunk and they were gonna they were going to kill him he was like south town pod i like i love pod too and then he was he was trying to relate to them with like dude we're the same people like because at the time nobody really who else knew about pod we were such an underground thing yes and it was like he related to them on pd and they literally took him out as he kind of just did his bill and then they i think they untied him or whatever and then just let him go that was it that was that criminal was in the backseat of the trunk but yeah it was and that literally got him out and he's like dude that he's like oh never did that save my life and then that led him to the to the lord yeah yeah unbelievable i mean did i hear those stories though all the time about your music i mean i've been with you so many times at music festivals or you know concerts or just wherever people see you and recognize you they like hey man you're music man yeah i know you're singing about something man or you know whatever it's just the lyrics are there and that's that just goes to prove it doesn't matter what and this is for the listeners like if god's lead you to do something you just got to go do it and you can't worry about i call them keyboard gangsters or actually head made that name up keyboard gangsters where they're typing stuff on blogs or instagram or whatever or even even when people i've seen people come up to you and me yeah and and you call them the butt men it's also in my book kill the noise uh when i quote you call them people the butt man hey man oh sonny hey dude i love what you're doing but those tattoos everything but the music you know it's like the butt man yeah um you know i do quote you a couple times in my book uh they can always do it better that's just that's the thing yeah and you have these people that then that come up here and what they do is it's like the enemy you know they the enemy uses these people to come in and discourage the believers and they like to fight amongst themselves when really the enemy is like murdering and killing and getting people addicted to pornography and drugs and literally killing people and taking them to hell yeah meanwhile you have the butt men the squad and the butt men that are everywhere coming in and just trying to discourage people that are actually reaching these people and your music is proof your bit when i say ministry is what god has called you to do that ministry that what the the voice that you have to the culture and through the lyrics it is impacting people and people are getting saved over and over again and if god's called you to do something don't get discouraged by these butt men i'm telling you right now they ain't they nothing exactly ain't going to do nothing the majority of these butt men that i've seen and talked to but men and women they haven't done nothing the majority of them one of these but men is basically a woman was like she got saved she used to go to corn concerts probably your concerts too got saved went to bible school then the seminary and now she's arrived and now she just comes against everyone that does everything she forgot where she came from and the importance of being back in that community and and actually letting your light shine and have a conversation and being there um yeah the butt man man don't be a butt man hey uh listen we're gonna go to break in a minute i do want to plug a couple things first of all talk about this really quick you got something going on here yeah no shows this is a 20th year of anniversary of our biggest record satellite and uh we're doing a re-release later on this year but we did we finally did a a concert series stream so we recorded um three shows at petco a lot of people say they think it's live but it's not this it's not live we just we did three sets in one day and we're gonna we're gonna spread them out so starting in may something may 17th or something i don't know three sets and one day you're too old for this bro i'm still hurting and [Music] it was fun though it was so nice because the pekko park they had the stadium lights on people there no no oh so it's just a full like it's like a product like my crew yeah i mean family and friends were kind of hanging out i didn't get invited so it wasn't all the it wasn't all the family shannon's in the in the studio your wife i zach went so you know i was like at my house i'm like well rehearsal studio nine days prior from 10 to seven with the guys trying to learn songs we hadn't even played in 20 years so it was it was a wild three weeks yeah that is but it was it was it was stressful but it was it was fun it's all behind you now yeah it's awesome that's crazy three shows yeah so we're we're wrapping that stuff up and then we'll we're gonna they're gonna be streaming uh sometime in may okay so yeah i just reposted it on my story uh we'll get that on the whosoever's too so did you give them the dates may 13th may 27th and june 10th are the three premieres yeah yeah so we're due the first one will be the satellite record second one will be fundamental elements of south town and the third set is uh rarities and those are songs that we did from our independent records to just throughout our career well we're going to be live streaming from the reece house um i got my daughters there dude my son loves dj marshmallow i'm just i'm just doing music festivals for them yeah yeah and they just love it so my son wakes up he goes come on i go wait marshmallow or monster trucks and he starts bouncing his head marshmallow so it's either monster trucks or marshmallows hey we're going to be going to break in a few minutes uh or actually a couple seconds um i want to plug the kill the noise book killanoisebook.com it's my book it it talks about how the hoosier ever started it talks about my story of faith it's a faith builder it's a tool to increase you read it sonny um it's it's it's raw yeah it's raw format and it'll encourage you guys you can buy it wherever books are sold kill noisebook.com amazon barnes nobles target walmart wherever it's all sold buy it purchase it get it give it to somebody we'll be back in two minutes peace more of the ryan reese show coming up post your questions at ryan reese on his instagram twitter and or facebook now back back to the ryan reese show all right dude we're back so let's plug that show one more time so you got the show going on you got the three albums with your band pod you have may 13th may 27th and june 10th and if you go to sunny whosoever on instagram or pod website what's it payableondeath.com yep payabledeath.com you can find it's a live stream it's announcement the reese family we will be streaming it like i was saying i want to introduce my kids the music and music festivals and and just all these these cool you know sports and i just i want to get them in that whole environment you know for sure so it's and they just love it like i was starting to show them music videos and they're just like yeah because you know they're watching they're very limited on on screen time yeah like it's like 30 minutes a day or i think now we do 30 in the morning and then or 30 like after they do their first stuff and then 30 in the evening like after around dinner time but i'm like instead of watching cartoons let me show them some music videos and different things yeah the monster trucks is a hit in our house but yeah i want to show them this stuff and they're just like blown away because they we've we've kept them away from screen time because we don't want to be stupid right so we're now as we're showing them key things like we're like we have limited time let's show them like cool things that will get the creativity going i think a little evie little evelyn she's like the little artistic like that's what's up she's gonna she's gonna do something i don't know what she's all into it like i showed her i put on like uh some of the edm music she disappeared came back in her she came back with like um a rainbow or no was it like a it was like a rainbow uh a mermaid um swimsuit a beach ball goggles on her head and some like crazy boots i'm like she's like ready to she's ready for the the music festival i don't know she just has it in her blood and then my son's uh he's i guess crystal's like he's meaning you he just yeah just like you anyway so dangerous let's get the we'll be streaming the uh the pod event i can't wait this is gonna be actually their first like rock like music to here you know yeah cause they've been doing the edm thing yeah but now we're gonna introduce this so this is gonna be dope yeah man all right before the break we were just talking about how here you are you're in you're you're christian you're in a band uh pewdie which is stands for payable on death which dude that name is too hard it's too hard payable on death because it's always like pod but man that name is just too sick when you when you say it out yeah um and uh you're you're a christian you're out there and your your lyrics are impacting people you're hearing people's lives being changed uh what else you're um oh but then the the christians like the not all christians because there's a lot of christians that love you and oh yeah but there's just like the sect of the that we were talking about and if you wanna know more about that you can read the book it explains a little bit more but just these people that are always coming against they discourage like discourage they're discouraged discourage you um you know we we've walked through with head and those kind of guys where they're just always discouraged like you know you're never doing it right you know i mean they they the way they think you're supposed to do it but it's kind of like you said when you know you know you have that call and it's like you just have to trust god that i'm doing the right thing you don't always get the confirmations you know we would play you know it's like when you play bars or clubs and you know you're kind of doing what you you know you believe you're supposed to do and then you know it's not like you're doing an altar call or people are coming forward and falling on the ground and giving their life to the lord but you're trusting that you're planting seeds and it means something and you know in almost 30 years of doing this i'll still meet a guy at a show and he'll be like dude i saw you guys in san diego you know 25 years ago i was sitting in the back of this club and you guys planted seeds in my life and then he'll go on to say all the amazing things that god has done in his life so far so it's always a confirmation that dude you were doing what you're supposed to be doing you know but even like when there's there's a lot of albums that we've done you know when i was it could have been some of the darkest times even my own spiritual walk yeah um and then always thinking is god using this is like are these lyrics right it's just yeah is it these is what is it and then again you know you'll so many people you'll meet and you're like dude this song it spoke to my life and then then i know it had been god because i was searching again searching again you know what during that time but god you know he still he still uses it you know i want to talk about two things one thing you said is you know you're saying that one guy was in the back of the bar you played music's powerful lyrics hit yeah it's the same it's just like when you play worship it's the holy spirit just works through the vessel right it's the same way it doesn't matter what kind of music you you write but that guy got seeds but also i'm gonna quote uh lacey sturm she wasn't even a christian she was in the back very back at some stadium you guys were playing at and the very top back in the nosebleed and she says when you came out started playing she felt like this presence like just give her a hug yeah yeah she just felt loved that story dude and that's that's the holy spirit is like when you're vessels of christ and you show up he just does his presence just comes so you have to worry that's the thing it takes it takes the pressure and the burden off you i think what happened when christians were coming against us at the time it kind of actually it kind of pushes you to do what god's not calling you to do it because then you're trying to please them yeah instead of pleasing god so it's like you know when we go up there you feel like you have to say something you feel like you have to do something so it's very contrived it's very led by someone who's standing there judging you when god is saying dude go go up there play the music i gave you love love the people and dude let me do the rest and to me that's easier because it's like i don't have the pressure of you know trying to sound right or say the right words or being this minister you know whatever it's like dude god just gave us music to play and but even now every time we go up you know or say we played oz fest or we do all this stuff i know i'm not going to go up and give an altar call like i just you get booed off the stage you don't never you'll never play the music a wise guy once told us before when he saw us playing the clubs he's like dude i see you guys are picking up this momentum in san diego playing all these places but he also saw how very aggressive we were and you know the time we had a song like abortionist murder you know it's very hardcore in your face a lot of stuff we would say things that were very kind of militant about our faith and you know we're still learning and this guy you know he he he told us he said man you guys are playing in places that i'll never get to and most christians would never get to and he said kind of view it as as as you're a guest and they're inviting you them into their home if you come down and burn the place down you'll never ever get invited again so we saw that so he just said if i can encourage you in one thing today just lead in love because we were we came in it was like we we always felt like we had to fight for jesus you know or defend yeah jesus when that's not the case i think that goes with all christians with everybody yeah yeah you know or you feel like you you know whatever you want to prove a points statement whatever but the more we try to to lead in love and that mentality of like you know what yeah dude i'm thankful that they're letting me play this club in this bar and i do hope they invite me back so so what we need to do is be excellent in the music we need to we need to be cool you don't come in there and just say for the sake of burning it down for the gospel sake and then it's like okay that's the last time you'll ever be there so that's not why it's burning bridges yeah so we we learned and we learned through records if you see the progression of records it's just the way we said things you know and the way we we tried to be more universal with it so that people would would listen to it first you know not just say oh that's that christian band it's not for me i don't want to hear their music so we were very smart in the way we did it you know i think that's a that's a wise thing just for everyone that's listening now is even when you go to wherever you go like you know we're touring skate parks yeah yeah um anywhere we go any place we go that's not in the church you're you're there in their environment especially in a skatepark it's a scene it's not going to like you have to speak their language yeah it's like you know most skateparks are an inner city you know there's a lot of drugs and different things so it's it's it's like you're getting all the rebels of the rebels there all the outcasts that don't give a dang about nothing and they're gonna size you up and when you go in you know you gotta you they gotta see that you're the you know yeah you're the real deal you know and and before they're going to hear you and then when you have that opportunity yeah you have to like you have to like actually show that you care and you want to hang out with them it's not you're just coming to close a deal and then when all the barriers break down like we do at the skate park then you're able to share with them but in love but if you if you don't go in there and share with love you're not going to get invited back to these music vessels and i've seen you at all i mean we've been in australia on tour we've been all over the united states in south america different places but you have a place in that in the in that's that's where god has you in the mainstream and i've seen roadies i've seen band members they'll pull you aside they come talk to you because you've been in there with love and even if say if you've never ever uh you know did altar calls from stage or anything like that let's just say you never talked about jesus your whole life from stage okay but god has had you there yeah but the amount of ministry that you've been doing backstage with individuals alone and i'm not saying you haven't but i'm just saying with the amount of ministry you've done with individuals and loans and people if the bible says all heaven rejoices when one gets saved if that's always our quote in the christian world well if just one gets saved all the angels are going to rejoice you know so yeah back on people that are like well what if he's never done any of this i'm not saying you have it yeah but dude you've had a lot of ones you've had thousands of ones and i look i that's again when i know that it's real because i'm not um beating anybody overhead or i'm not i don't have an agenda you know but but even you know when we go back to scripture and we're talking about learning about jesus you know whenever i read about jesus he was he was the king of relationships you know i mean he wasn't just solo it's like he built relationships and and and in those relationships you build trust and so especially you know for me being in the rock world most of these guys have they've already fed up they've had their bad experiences they were raised in christian homes and they want nothing to do with god so you kind of have to flip it on them it's like well you know what you've already heard it all you probably know more scripture than me because you were forced to study it when you're a kid you know i mean living in your street christian home so now it's like they already know that i'm a believer it's like now how much can i just love them be their friend you know not be judgmental you know and just see that they really care and then once they know they know you and which they do i've built relationships with rock stars for almost 30 years yeah and then they're the ones who are like it's we're brothers now and then so then um you know my jesus has more credibility in a way where it's like okay i want to know your jesus sonny i don't want to know the jesus that i thought or that i grew up on or you know this whack dude you know that's saying this or that about jesus i don't trust that but i trust you and and so tell me about your jesus and those again i don't i don't knock on their door hey can i or they're buster hey can i tell you about jesus yeah they just come because they see it because it's like dude we're we're we're we love each other and we're friends yeah and they know i genuinely care about them exactly you know so and i've seen that over and over and over again and it's it's such an amazing thing and and and that's why it goes back to like we can't we can't go over i carry our lives about what everyone else is saying because no one knows the the back story no one knows what's going on in people's lives behind the scenes what's happening you know and and you know i've i've talked about many artists that we know of how man i've seen god use these guys and the stuff that you don't see because you know what yeah the bottom line when you're backstage yeah and you're talking to people there's no camera yeah no one likes you you're not gonna be filming these these these private events you know what i mean that are happening these these cool little stories and when you relate it to jesus uh he was there that we that famous story of jesus hanging out with the tax collectors you know uh being that then you have the pharisees they brought the girl that was an adultery the sinner you know well jesus what do you say you know he's like well whoever doesn't have sin cast the first stone you know and then he just basically what does he tell her go and sin no more it's like he didn't have this harsh you know this thing on on on sinners he was very graceful and he would yeah just to be clear he'd be like go sin no more but like god loves you like i'm not gonna i'm not i'm not coming to judge you and the scripture says that jesus didn't come to the judge when he came to save the world so if we come with that if we gotta always as christians keep that mentality that we always have to remember that we're nothing we're sinners saved by grace and and when i start getting judgmental i uh if i if there's like thought process starts happening or i start thinking i'm too cool for school or like god man ryan you're you're you know satan puts us out you're you're doing pretty good stuff like yeah like i gotta you know how i ground myself if that stupid thought ever comes in my mind and i'm just being transparent because we're all humans and these little stupid i call them these fiery darts or these little footholes that the enemy wants to get in because he wants to get you thinking you're dope you're not yeah right and what happens is i always think about that time when i'm in the hotel room or not in the hotel room i was thinking about that time i was at my friend's house which is now dead he died from a drug overdose and i was at my friend's uh i was at his house and i was i was had money house car i mean i was living my dream in circa like everything i ever wanted i wasn't i wasn't a millionaire but i was living like a millionaire because all the company was paying for everything you know what i mean like we had the millionaire lifestyle and uh but dude i was there and i was drunk i was drunk and i was empty and i was i was high and i was empty still it's like all these things that you people do to feel themselves to feel like that that that because we have this emptiness in us yeah and i remember just sitting there and i was like i'm empty i'm i'm not high enough i'm not drunk enough and i was like what do you have do you have anything else and he's like i got crack and and heroin and i just put it together and i just started smoking it and i'm just like here i am in this place and i remember just thinking dude i am so i think i even shot up something too i think i shot some eight oh no i didn't smoke i shot of heroin and and and coke that's what it was so here i am yeah drunk high shoot of coke and heroin in one shot like that's like people don't do that yeah and i'm just thinking to myself god i'm so empty right now and i could just die and i just don't care about nothing and that's and i the reason why i say all that is because any time i start thinking i'm something yeah i always go back to that moment because that's that grounding moment that i always i'm nothing dude i'm you know who ryan reese is i'm that guy yeah i'm that guy that's who i am that's everything i did in my life and every all everything that led me to this moment that i became that guy that's where ryan reads my heart will get me the heart the bible says our heart is deceitfully wicked who knows it yeah god knows it and that's what always grounds me as i always take myself to that moment and and also you know but the the the the side note of that is you know fast forwarding to when i give my life to christ god forgives me my sins and then i end up in that moment in the dirt in the garden of gethsemane and i'm saying that prayer and i'm like god here i am now this is me when i'm fully repented and i'm just like god here i am i'm so sorry i'm nothing how would you use this dirty sinner this guy that you saved what would you do in my life and you were there with us you were in the garden too saying a prayer in the dirt somewhere else doing my own doing my own thing with god yeah and you're you're and god did something cool with me and he's doing something cool and and and there you are you're in the garden and you call those prayers dangerous prayers we have like nine minutes left tell us about these these dangerous prayers in closing because we're going to continue the show i want to i want to do another show with you and i want to continue because you've been on tour uh touring again with the whosoevers and and doing your thing you're the co-founder um so we're gonna talk about that in the in the second show for this next weekend but um tell me about about some uh because we're just kind of closing here like tell me about these dangerous prayers that you make that how they've impacted your life to to where you're at now what's it say i mean just going back to what you were saying real quick um yeah i think even uh for me you know when when when god found me and i was in this outside this hospital it was all before any music it was before any success or any type of celebrity and um and so i don't identify myself with any of that even though that was awesome and changed my life in some radical ways but i always see myself um in that parking lot of the hospital just saying god if you're real coming to my life in the dirt yeah yeah yeah in a dirty parking lot and i'll never i'll never not be that guy and i don't that's the guy i want to be you know and that's i think how when the who server was formed same thing taking a break from music and saying god i don't i don't identify with this muse you know with rock and roll it's like i'm i just want to be that that kid that was 19 that was so dependent upon you and so desperate for you that i don't forget that you know but then being in a rock and roll band again great times all this good stuff you it's easy to forget to forget that person because now everybody treats you like a rock star so you know you you go through your moments of pride you know but people you know i'm just [Music] but [Music] my [Music] you

Channel: Ryan Ries

Views: 921

Rating: 4.8823528 out of 5

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Id: MaLex0tU0hk

Length: 61min 1sec (3661 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 08 2021