We’re in the throws of cold and flu season, so it may not come as a surprise that a fever is spreading — but put down the cold compress, because this may just be the cure we’ve been waiting for.
Strength In Numb333rs, the sophomore studio effort from Inglewood-based trio Fever 333, drops today (January 18), and comes right in the nick of time to deliver a full slate of absolute rapcore bangers that aim to address a myriad of issues pertaining to injustice and the increasingly tumultuous social climate. Frontman Jason Aalon Butler, making up one-third of the band alongside guitarist Stephen ‘Stevis” Harrison and drummer Aric Improta, is proud to see the album reach the masses, and mostly because he feels he achieved his goal of keeping his artistic integrity intact, while putting something together that he feels is really worth someone’s time.
“I think [this record] is exactly what we were supposed to do,” Butler tells Vanyaland. “I’m very excited to see how people receive it, and not necessarily for any kind of acclaim, but moreso how they receive the messages, and what that means to people and how they are represented and empowered by those messages. To me, that’s the most important part.”
While the constant stream of news and political ideology we see today may have the majority of people struggling to to put their frustration into words, Butler admits the writing process for the new record was actually the most succinct approach he’s ever taken toward a project. Butler was inspired by the grind exhibited by producers John Feldmann and blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, which led to him writing continuously, and in the end, coming away with more than half an album wroth of music left to put out.
“I work alongside Travis and John primarily, and those are two of the hardest working and most inspired, as well as the most inspiring artists I’ve ever encountered,” he says. So, the idea of stopping is never really on the table. I just keep writing, and keep creating. I hear something, or read something, or see it, and I feel inspired and I want to write about it. It’s a very encouraging environment I’m in creatively, so we’re always writing.”
Aside from unleashing a hellstorm of hard riving riffs, with elements of hip-hop and techno, accented by vocals delivered with a primal intensity, Butler hopes the new album reaches listeners on a deeper level, and inspires them to take action for what they believe in. Without belaboring the word too much, the frontman wants listeners to discover the power within themselves, or at the very least, recognize that the power has been there all along.
“I want people to feel that power that they inherently hold, and recognize that power if they haven’t experienced it in that way yet,” he stresses. “Power belongs to all people, and with this album, I want people to recognize that, and feel a sense of power that I believe and know exists in everyone, and an understanding that you deserve representation.”
Starting next week, Fever 333 bring the new record out on the road in support of Bring Me The Horizon and Thrice, a tour that hits the Tsongas Center in Lowell on February 1. And while Butler wants listeners to connect with the messages they passionately convey on the album, he understands that a live setting, or “demonstration” as they call it, is where the band is really afforded the opportunity to show the world that they “really fucking mean it.”
“We call our shows demonstrations” Butler says, “because we’re trying offer people an opportunity to demonstrate what they feel, what they want represented, and who they are and who they know who they want to be in a place that is encouraging of discourse, self-expression and liberation, and knowing that there isn’t just one route to achieving those things.”
Jason Aalon Butler is inspired by a lot of people, and a lot of the events taking place around him, and that has fanned a creative flame he is taking full advantage of right now. But, aside from all of the outside sources of inspiration, at the root of his power-packed lyrical leadership is personal experience, and that is what truly ignites the fire inside of him that aims to shed light on the truth.
“A lot of these lyrics come from my own experiences with these issues,” he admits. “It’s not at all conjecture or biases. It’s fact, and experience, and that’s a truth that can’t be taken away from me. So, I’m just trying to relay the truth, and truth as I’ve observed it.”
FEVER 333 + BRING ME THE HORIZON + THRICE :: Friday, February 1 at The Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Arcand Drive in Lowell, MA :: 7 p.m., $45 in advance :: Tsongas event page :: Advance tickets :: Featured image by Jimmy Fontaine