The mission is clear for Grammy-nominated SoCal rock band Fever 333: Support marginalized communities, challenge the system and electrify the masses.

“Everything they told you that you can’t do, there’s probably a reason to it, and it’s probably fear,” singer-screamer Jason Aalon Butler said. “It’s probably because they don’t want to see people achieving these things.”

To not challenge is to be sedentary and complacent, he elaborated, which can be seen as being complicit. The band’s latest track, “Higher Power,” speaks to those themes, challenging the status quo on race, immigration, economic opportunity and reparations. The song pulls no punches in its rallying cry to lift up those who are often subjugated. Butler delivers the message with an uplifting message of unity and strength, favoring empowerment over solely aggression.

“There’s so many things happening around us right now that there’s just no room for being complicit,” he said.

It’s the growing of a drumbeat started on the re-tooled band’s prior singles, “New West Order” and “$wing,” with Butler working to take back the power. All three songs will be on Fever 333’s new album, Darker White, out on Oct. 4.

“I can’t keep asking y’all/ For the real story ’bout what happened, y’all/ When you was building off the backs of all/ Them bodies that you broke while making capital,” Butler sings on “$wing.” The trio of tracks are the first of many for a band with plenty of material in its back pocket, ready to unleash.

Fever 333 is in the midst of rebirth, rising up from what could have been the end. In late 2022, guitarist Stephen Harrison and drummer Aric Improta quit, leaving Butler by himself. Rather than call it a day, he found guitarist Brandon Davis, bassist April Kae and drummer Thomas Pridgen, turning the band into a quartet.

“I was looking for the funk,” Butler said. “There is just something to be said about having this cultural diversity within rock music.”

But what exactly is the “funk” he was searching for? Butler said it goes beyond a slap-bass line or a tight drum groove; it speaks to something deeper in the music.

“It’s a movement, it’s a feeling, it’s an energy, it’s an essence,” he said, adding that he wanted to bring diversity to hard rock. “From the outside we got to come in, instead of inside inviting us.”

Pridgen agreed, saying hard rock struggled with gatekeeping and barriers up to keep the status quo, which fostered stagnation. At the same time, rap and hip-hop found ways to innovate and reach new audiences, and finally the walls are coming down.

“It’s a hybrid; it’s like restaurants where you have fusion Asian places and Mexican spots that do sushi sometimes,” Pridgen said. “I think everyone is just growing up.”

Kae said she finds inspiration from past generations in pushing to create something new and meaningful.

“I consider this band and my work as a musician in the legacy of Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Prince,” she said. “These are amazing Black artists in many ways rooted in social justice work that meld together different genres and sounds that appeal to different populations that pushes music and pushes culture forward.”

The band is returning to the road in the fall, both in the United States and in Europe. The band has said that the “Welcome to Tha Function” tour aims to push the boundaries of genre and explore the cultivation of culture.

For the uninitiated, seeing Fever 333 in concert is an energetic experience. Like a ticking time bomb ready to blow, the band brings an urgency that’s equal parts dangerous and exhilarating. It’s shared the stage with the likes of Bring Me the Horizon and Enter Shikari, drawing attention in whatever room it plays.

“I want people to look at Fever 333 as a live entity and understand that anything is possible,” Butler said. “And not just on stage, but well beyond the stage.”

As much as the act is physical, Butler said it’s about challenging audiences to stretch their minds and their spirits to a place that’s uncomfortable and questions the status quo. Outdoors, Butler often seeks out the tallest obstacle he can climb, delivering the performance precariously high above the gathered crowd below.

That colors everything Butler does, from performances to songwriting and his personal life. The band supports many social justice causes, using music as a vehicle to advance the message.

“If you feel scared, or there’s a voice in your head that you can’t necessarily fully articulate without creating, then you’re probably supposed to be challenging yourself,” he said.

Each band member’s performance elevates the group, which is inspiring to see, Davis added. And to Kae, Pridgen’s assertiveness and presence as a drummer is where she locks in and finds her flow.

“Any moment that I’m not tapped in, I can just click right back in with Thomas,” she said.

The goal of uplifting voices isn’t limited to band’s songwriting. Butler devoted similar effort to the business side of music. Launching record label 333 Wreckords Crew, as a collective, he built something he said he wants to be for artists by artists. The ultimate goal isn’t to make money but to fostering a creative community of artists who can disrupt the system.

Butler said he hopes fans coming to shows can also plug in to that disruption and feel the energy coming from the band.

“Being on stage with [this band] and feeling challenged by everyone on stage, and not in a way where I’m tipping on envy, but feeling like I’m inspired — I just want people to know what that feels like,” he said.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.