Marcos Curiel (born September 9, 1974) is the lead guitarist of rock bands P.O.D., The Accident Experiment and Daylight Division. Curiel was born in San Diego, California, in 1974 and is of Mexican descent. He grew up in the neighboring city of Chula Vista, where he graduated from Bonita Vista High School in 1992. Curiel started P.O.D. that year, along with friend Noah "Wuv" Bernardo. The band started building a strong local fanbase, releasing several albums independently. In 1998, they were signed to a record deal (Atlantic Records) and released their hit albums The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999) and Satellite (2001) including hit singles, "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation". Both albums have had mainstream success, gaining multi Platinum certifications by the RIAA and three Grammy Award nominations. P.O.D. has also contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks and toured internationally. Marcos has attended the Howard Fine Acting Studio. Curiel is the youngest member of P.O.D. P.O.D. (1992–2003; 2006–present) In an e-mail sent to fans in 2003, P.O.D. front man Sonny Sandoval said Curiel left "to pursue his own vision apart from P.O.D." However, Curiel insisted in a phone call from his San Diego home that he was kicked out by Atlantic Records management. "Because of your loyalty and respect, it saddens me to say that Marcos is no longer with P.O.D.," Sandoval wrote. "Never have we imagined P.O.D. without him, but we now know this vision is bigger than the four of us." Curiel, who was always an outspoken member of P.O.D., was particularly upset because the band's ex-manager Tim Cook, not his bandmates, called to fire him. He said the group met a few weeks before his removal and everyone acted enthusiastic about his projects. He has been quoted as saying; "As soon as I was out, they started talking stuff behind my back," he said. "It's very, very shady. I have friends defending me on the Web site, and every time they put something up in defense of me, it gets deleted. I'm like, 'What? This is not fair, dude.' ... Then I found out they had another guitar player already. I was like, 'Whoa, they've been plotting this for a long time.'" On December 30, 2006, just months after P.O.D. left Atlantic Records and on the same day his replacement Jason Truby left the band, Marcos was asked to rejoin P.O.D. The band announced to their