For me, interviewing Jason Aalon Butler is one of the biggest deals ever. With Letlive (his previous project) being one of my all time favourite bands, and both The Fever 333 and Pressure Cracks being two of the international up and coming rock/metal acts that are doing something genuinely different at this point in time, you could say I was pretty chuffed to have a chat about what he’s been up too musically.
With The Fever 333 just scoring a Grammy Nomination for ‘Best Rock Live Act,’ as well as having festival and headliner slots booked for the next six months, I wanted to start out asking about Pressure Cracks, the vocalists other band who, to-date have only released one EP.
“I actually spoke with those dudes this morning,” Butler states, “We are planning on releasing another EP so we should be finishing that off pretty soon. I’ve also got some guest spots in the works and I’m also trying to get another band up and running with some more of the homies which will be more new-school punk rock.
“Mainly, I’m just trying to stay creative whilst still doing things that are fun so that I can inspire myself and the people I’m surrounded with.”
And he is well and truly succeeding in keeping himself busy, with there also being some (currently unannounced) solo material in the works. “I’ve actually got a bunch of stuff that I have written for a solo project and that is all quite emotive” [as opposed to being politically based.] “I try to mix it up so that I’ve got different outlets because I’d like to believe that I’m multifaceted,” he laughs.
“For me, it sort of depends on what music I’m listening too at the time. But what seems to of happened, just thinking of the songs that I have written solo, it seems to be more hip-hop orientated, or even ambient electronic.
“Those kind of melodies or beats are the first thing that springs to my head so if I’m writing for myself with a solo project in mind it’s usually like neon-soul, electronic or hip-hop based, which is kind of my go-too,” he says. “When I wake up in the morning, I put on hip-hop and I listen to soul music when I’m with my wife, and because I listen to those genres so much it would be really nice to focus on them at a point.”
But for now The Fever 333 is the primary focus, with them set to come down to Australia for a “one-off headliner demonstration” at Download, with the band referring to their shows as ‘Demonstrations’ due to their heavily anti-political message.
“Politics tends to find its way into most of what I do. Activism is such an important thing for me personally and I think that it definitely dictates my creativity,” Butler explains. “I’m actually hoping to associate the subversion of systematic justice and equality is more so what I’m trying to associate with The Fever. Basically, that one thought can spread from one mind, to ten minds, to hundreds, then to thousands and then to millions.
“Symbolically, I’d like the notion of a fever to reflect social change that starts with one person and ends with a million, spreading very much like a fever or an epidemic.”
There’s a fever coming. Join the revolution at Download on March 11th for The Fever 333’s first ever Melbourne show when they hit the stage at 2.05pm. Peep the set times below.
Written by Alex Callan
