Alright, so my first question I wanted to ask you is how did the genesis of the project come about, and what was the initial thought behind it?
Essentially, with THE FEVER 333, I got a call from a couple buddies of mine - John Feldmann and Travis Barker - they wanted to start a new project with me, and I was fully gung-ho. And when we sat down and discussed it, we were talking about things like... The Bad Brains or Fishbone. You know, like, punk rock with people of color in the band.
Cuz that's the genesis right there - you know, punk and hip-hop divided and...
Yes, that's right, that's EXACTLY right! So, we were trying to find a tasteful way to integrate it and create something that offers representation across the board for all people - lovers of music, different cultures, ideologies or politics... we're really trying to open that lane up for all people to experience.
See, and it was cool for me tonight because I was counting out people in the crowd and I was like, "Wow, there are so many different people here.” There's a bunch of women, a bunch of guys, whatever you identify as. And, you know, people of color and everything - and it was GREAT to see that, cuz I'm used to going to shows and just seeing a bunch of, you know, jacked up white dudes and-
Right! Right.
And I'm seeing that and I'm feeling awkward, cuz I'm not like that. I've never been like the guy that's crowdkilling or whatever.
[Laughs] Right!
Next question I wanted to do is - the charity contributions you guys do, I know you just put out that video you were telling me about the other day, actually, talking about people sending in charity ideas for the shows and stuff like that. I wanted to know for you, personally, what is the most important aspect of charity?
I think that focusing locally is the most effective and most integral part towards a larger outward change, you know? When you centralize something locally, it's sort of like a test, a thesis, you take your hypothesis and you put it to the test. And then you see what you can create and what you can garner on a local level, and hopefully that assimilates and grows exponentially and makes its way into a global change if that is in fact what you want.
I think that's a great answer, dude. I wanted to say - the rebellion and unity vibe that go with THE FEVER's music, you know, it's a very central kind of concept for you guys. Why do you think that and the thought of giving back go so well together? You've got the rebellion, you've got people all in the same room that have an idea, why do you think that the thought of giving back goes so well with that kind of forward thought?
That's a great question! I think it's because we're all in such a similar mindset, where we feel as though there's so much that needs to happen, so much that needs to change, and a lot of what we're doing does focus on empathy and trying to understand various perspectives. So when doing that, I think it's showing that you're actually putting an effort forward and plugging yourself into that change as opposed to sort of looking at it from an outside view or some form of cursory perspective. You're actually involving yourself in the change, and there's something really good, there's a really good feeling when you're actually involved in something.
We were actually just talking about this before I started recording - you infuse a lot more elements of hip-hop into your music with THE FEVER 333 than you did with letlive, for sure. There was still a lot of that vibe there, especially with The Dope Beat, but what led to that decision specifically with THE FEVER 333 and why do you think that they go so well together? We both know the answer to that already, but...
[Laughs] Yeah, yeah! Honestly man, hip-hop and R&B are my first loves, it was always something that I wanted to make sure I could tastefully integrate, and also I needed to share the space. The people I was creating the music with needed to have the same desire to do so. And with this project, luckily, I write a lot with Travis Barker, who is like a huge hip-hop head.
I actually lived three houses down with him when I was in L.A., bro.
Oh, see?! No shit! Yeah, Trav is like, really, really, really involved in the culture, he's very involved sonically with that. And the people I'm sharing the stage with - my boys Aric and Stephen - also want to, you know, push music progressively, find a new space for guitar-oriented music, and evolve it. I think that, in my mind, hip-hop has been doing something so incredibly progressive recently, which is the most punk rock shit to me in the world. So, I think they kind of live hand-in-hand.
They're two sides of the same coin.
Exactly, man, exactly.
I've got just one more question for you. One of the biggest elements I've noticed at a FEVER show, that kind of differs from a letlive show in some aspects, is that there are a lot more fun and exciting moments incorporated with the performance. Seeing letlive. was just kind of raw, you know? You remember Baltimore, I'm just hugging you and crying and screaming at the end of that shit. It's still very rebellious and serious, but why do you think the combination of the lighthearted aspect and the aggression is so impactful?
You know, man, I think that it's really distilling your message, distilling what you want to do and want to say in a way that's palatable, digestible. It's still confronting, still challenging, but it at least sparks some sort of thought POST-show, post-demonstration, post-speech. You know what I mean? So, with this thing, I'm really just making an effort to distill the message, and really just trying to make it concise and poignant. And, I think that's what's really been helping the most, it's -
So that there's an aspect for everybody to grab on to and find something that they can push towards in their life, whether it's for them or others.
Exactly.
I think that's fucking great, man.
Thank you so much, brother.
I'm gonna cut this off, now.
Yo, we fucking did it! We got it done! That's right, G!
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THE FEVER 333 is on tour now as support for The Used, with multiple headlining dates in between as well as a couple of festival appearances.
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