On the band’s new record, Darker White, out on October 4th via Century Media Records, Fever 333—composed of lead vocalist Jason Aalon Butler, bassist April Kae, drummer Thomas Pridgen, and guitarist Brandon Davis—seek to highlight the emotional element of existing in a fractious and divided political and social landscape, something that has always been important to Butler.
“For me, this was about giving insight into experiences like mine and others that are like me. Although they may be disparate, our emotional experiences and engagement with our environment can be similar. It’s an attempt to highlight an overtly marginalized experience and then get some sort of empathy and understanding.” Butler wanted the album to be “groove oriented” so “people could dance to the idea of disparity.”
Composed of 14 tracks, the musical experimentation accomplishes Butler’s goal, with the theme of the record focusing on “the intersection we will all find ourselves in at some point, identifying our metric for good or bad. Wrong or right. Dark and light. All based on our environment, social construction and cultural/psychological conditioning.” At the album’s core, Butler seeks to ‘celebrate’ pieces of yourself that seem unique to you and strange to others. We all just wanna be seen for who we are and who we can be, even if it initially may seem odd.”
Formed in Inglewood, CA in 2017, Fever 333 was founded by Butler, the former Letlive vocalist and current frontman of the band, and former band member, guitarist Stephen Harrison, after a discussion of Black people’s participation in rock music and the concept for a band that Butler had previously thought of after the break-up of Letlive. After starting by performing an impromptu pop-up show at Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, the band released their debut EP Made An America in March 2018 and followed up with the releases of their debut album Strength in Numb333rs, Long Live The Innocent (2020) a live musical performance and political demonstration following the murder of George Floyd, and Wrong Generation (2022). With Darker White, Butler continues to address systemic racism and the wider political landscape while creating a space for celebrating disparity and creative liberation, a record that has been years in the making. “I’ve been working on this album for 3 years now and some of these songs are that old.”
“No Hostages” was penned during the Black Lives Matter protests that were occurring post-pandemic. “I wrote that song in the midst of the public being more aware of the plight that Black Americans and dark-skinned people around the world were facing with authority and systemic imbalances, things that are vestiges of us in chains or slavery. Unfortunately, the reason why I was able to confidently release that song is because those things are still happening.”
Butler adds that these conversations are necessary because these tragedies keep occurring. “We’re not there yet. Although people are fatigued from hearing it, a lot of us are fatigued from experiencing it. It puts me in a position where I know, as an artist and someone that offers a product for people to consume, I know that it may turn people off. And that’s okay. I’m here to speak the truth and try to highlight something in a way that more people will listen to than they do to the news.”
On Darker White, lead single “New West Order’ seeks to bring West Coast rap to the hard rock scene while standout singles such as “Negligence” and “Bull and a Bullet” tackle topics such as police brutality, economic inequality, and racism candidly and powerfully, a topic that Butler dives into deeply during our conversation. “There’s just so many biases that exist based on the way that this country and much of the Western world was structured. It’s hierarchical which is the way things work. I think power is something we strive for throughout time and it’s no longer okay for us to accept that as our norm.” Butler continues, explaining how power dynamics play a pivotal role in movements such as Black Lives Matter. “After so much holding back what people deserve, at some point people get hungry enough and tired enough to where they are all but forced to behave in ways that seem violent, too radical, or seem overly aggressive, that is a point to which we are pushed. I just believe that there’s so much more nuance to it than we’re actually trying to pay attention to in most media and most larger discussions throughout the country. We’re always being painted as the antagonist when we are not. We’re just trying to survive.”
The record signals a shift in Butler’s life on a professional level. “This is a new approach for me, sonically and in delivery, in hopes that people would try to get more informed. I think that once all of us get free then everyone would be in a better position.” In addition to new sound and intentionally pushing musical boundaries, the “universe” of the album stems from Butler’s childhood and his experiences. Coming from an “inherently radical space,’ genres such as rap, punk music, early soul, and rock spoke to the singer in his younger years, solidifying his vision of rock and alternative spaces being something that “open up these spaces to people like myself who may feel like misfits in a misfit culture” later on.
Ultimately, Butler hopes that the album gives people a safe space to start a conversation and helps people find a way to become politically engaged and move towards progress. “I want to address this in a way where people might bob their heads as a physical affirmation and maybe try to understand what it is that we’ve been talking about and understand that there’s actual data on these things that show a profound disparity in experience, whether or not you believe the reasons.” Butler looks beyond music for solutions, as ‘there’s more to this than yelling into a microphone and talking shit on an album.” Butler suggests seeking out “ways to take steps towards actionable items on the agenda of revolution and change” and finding “interconnectivity” with others.
Darker White is out Friday, and you can preorder it from the Fever 333 shop. Follow Fever 333 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Darren Craig
