Jason Aalon Butler has a strong vision of community. It’s one that has seen him incite a legion of dedicated followers through his own music within the Grammy-nominated Fever 333 to believe in something bigger than themselves. Community, Charity and Change are the values Fever 333 was built upon and now Butler will be bringing those same values and an all around inspirational ethos to his brand new record label alternative ‘333 Wreckords Crew’.
“When I started this project it was quite literally built upon a foundation of community,” says Butler. “In my mind this community would thrive due to its unique focus on ethics, progressiveness, a symbiotic structuring and, of course, dope art. I believe that the difference between myself and many other record labels (especially most established ones) is that I am not here to make money off of my artists. I am an artist who wants to create a structure that challenges the current music creation process and disrupts the way it is distributed. I will do this by working WITH my artists. So we all have a stake in the fulfillment and success of the art.”
Every artist’s experience is unique and complex but Butler’s own journey in music, touring extensively and dealing with many a conundrum in his own career to date means that he’s perfectly poised to make sure the emphasis is on the artists themselves. 333 Wreckords Crew are dead set on empowering every artist they work with as much as is humanly possible.
As Butler has observed, “It is very seldom you find personnel in the music business with any ACTUAL experience beyond the desk or computer they’ve been placed in front of and tasked to do the impossible – understand the infinitely faceted experience and perspective of an artist creating art that isn’t theirs. Even when you do find the rare employee that “had a band and played outside cities on the weekends” it often still couldn’t be farther from the understanding you as an artist are looking for when you’re stuck on a section of highway in the middle of the night that isn’t even listed on google maps trying to find a replacement gas tank for the one your van just lost due to an animal bone puncturing your previous one becuase you ran over the remains of an accident that wasn’t properly handled earlier that day and all you want to do is make the next show so you can possibly eat tomorrow. Strangely specific? Well you can guess that I am remarking on a situation I, as an artist, experienced which is one of thousands that make up the prism through which I will view my artists’ needs, desires, tribulations, and queries. Essentially, I will offer them ACTUAL experience which will be conducive to their progression and success in all situations while keeping their vision, health, and emotional safety at the front of my mind at all times.”
The first artist to find a home, and community, as part of the 333 Wreckords Crew is Louisville Kentucky three-piece Guerrilla Warfare, a band that marry their visceral Hardcore approach with a Nu Metal tinge to devastating results. GW vocalist and drummer Garrett Hood enthuses “Jason was somebody that reached out to us the day we released our latest EP after a mutual friend (and Fever 333’s photographer Anthony Tran) showed him the record while on tour. To have somebody who I’ve literally idolized for years in terms of being a performer, songwriter, activist and overall human being involved with Guerrilla Warfare is a literal dream come true for me personally and for all of us. We feel that he & 333 Wreckords Crew understand and support the bridge of cultures and sounds we are trying to create in our music and we could not be happier to work together to watch our vision come into fruition.”
“After the first 8 bars I KNEW this was a band I had to make a part of this collective,” Butler concurs. “I believe that when things speak to you that quickly, simply due to the irrefutable energy they convey, you have to act on that. So that’s what I did. A few days later I was hitting them up telling them how strongly I felt about what they were doing and promised to honor their art and make sure the world gets an opportunity to feel the way I did the first time I experienced it.”