FEVER 333's Jason Aalon Butler: "I Want To Encourage More Empathy"

Debuts, record labels, free festivals – 2019 was quite the 12 months for FEVER 333’s Jason Aalon Butler…

You started 2019 by releasing the debut FEVER 333 album, STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS.How did it feel to get that record out there?
“It felt like we were laying out the future of the band, ideologically and sonically. Once it was released, it was a testament to all the talk that had been happening around what we were doing and why. We could really stamp our feet in the ground and say, ‘This is it.’ I feel so happy that it was received the way it was. It opened a lot of doors and opportunities for us.”

READ THIS: 13 songs to kickstart the revolution

In 2019 you won the Kerrang! Award for Best Song with BURN IT.
“I took that opportunity to discuss the notion that we should be supporting each other, especially in this microcosmic world that is inept at focussing on its sense of community, and on true emotional and mental health. As artists, we should be a representation of those things. It was nice to be recognised as a band that has done something people feel is worth a heavy-ass metal K!, but the coolest part was to be able to talk about what we think this really means. If we get a platform, we should use it to talk about artists and what we can all do to help each other. If we all support each other, art will be better, messaging will be better, support will be better, and progression will improve.”

After Woodstock was cancelled, you staged a one-day fest called Wouldstock. How was that?
“It was amazing. It showed what people want and what people can achieve. I may have come up with the idea, but the local businesses that came out and made it happen were so eager, helpful and willing. When these things happen, it’s testament to what people are capable of. I think that’s more akin to the spirit of Woodstock 50 years ago than the one we were supposed to play, if I’m being honest. It was beautiful and inspiring to see people come together to make shit happen.”

Would you do it again?
“I think it’s phase one of something we could actually pull off on a larger scale.”

The event raised money and awareness for charitable causes. Do you have any other charity work in the pipeline?
“[In 2020] I’m working on a series of local events under the banner of the Walking In My Shoes Foundation. I wanna have interactive events to promote and encourage the idea of empathy for different issues. We’ll have everything from speakers to artists. I want to facilitate a community where we can cultivate it, but I want other people to get the attention when it comes to these issues and events.”

You also started the 333 Wreckords Collective. Why?
“I’m seeing all of this talent that people are afraid to take on. I’m not in the game of waiting. If bands have talent and potential, I want to be a part of that. I want us to work together to sustain a culture in the name of honesty, authenticity, art and community. The people I’m working with are all people I think I can help. I understand the music, background, approach and vision. A lot of bands get slept on because they think so far out of the box that no-one knows how to position them. I want to provide a space for these people. This is a numerical and unit-moving system – that’s what the fucking record industry is, and I’m trying to find an alternative to that. I want to make sure artists feel like they’re understood. The artist should not be the last person receiving the benefits from their fucking art, and that’s how it is elsewhere in this game right now. I’m willing to go head-to-head with this industry that people think can’t be fought.”

READ THIS: The 75 best albums of the 2010s

You are signed to Roadrunner. Could you see FEVER 333 leaving that label mentality behind and self-releasing everything?
“Absolutely, yeah. I would have to, right? I couldn’t just believe it for my bands and not myself.”

In terms of bands that are catching your attention, who should we be looking at?
“Guerrilla Warfare, Nova Twins and Ecca Vandal. To me, those bands should be the components for the future of music for Kerrang! readers – people who hold guitars and are challenging the way that you look at this kind of music. Those are the bands with that spirit, without a doubt.”

FEVER 333's debut album STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS is out now.