Trouble interview with Jeff Olson

(Originally from 9/30/06)

Trouble is a legendary name in the doom metal genre, often mentioned in the company of other infamous names like Black Sabbath and Candlemass. The group has been around for more than two decades, has released some undeniable classics, and now prepares to unleash their first new album in over 10 years. Longtime member and drummer Jeff Olson gives us a brief glimpse of the past and future for Trouble...

Getting started, can you give us a brief introduction to the band, for those who are unfamiliar with the history/music of Trouble?

Jeff Olson: Started in 1978 by Rick Wartell....a five piece dual guitar format with double leads and scratchy vocals... low tuned by a step in the 80's and different tunings since... Members are Rick Wartell, Bruce Franklin (Guitars), Eric Wagner (Vocals), Chuck Robinson (Bass), and Jeff Oly Olson (Drums).

I'll just go ahead and cut straight to the chase - how is progress coming on the new CD scheduled for a 2007 release?

Good it has been finished for a while... and it is ready... it sounds great!

With the exception of Sean McAllister, this is the first time the original Trouble line-up has been together again in over 20 years. What brought about the reunion of the line-up and are you guys finding it any easier or more difficult to write new songs after all these years?

It was a lot of individual writing this round... we turned in the songs and voted on them... It was a tough process.

Can you tell us who are some of the bands/musicians that have inspired you and the rest of Trouble?

Alice Cooper, Deep Puple, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, old Judas Priest, Doors, Beatles... for me jazz and be bop and modern orchestral... oh ELP.

The early Trouble albums seem to have some heavily Christian themes present in them, and although you guys have never really aligned with the Christian metal industry, the lyrics changed quite a bit around the time of the self-titled album. Was there any particular reason for this, or was it just time to branch out more?

We were too preachy...It trapped us in a catergory.

Do you have a favorite song that you've written with the band - or perhaps even a favorite album?

I wrote "Victim Of The Insane", "Till The End Of time", "Sorrows", and "Fly"... my favorite album is Run To The Light.

What do you think of the doom/psychedelic rock scene today? Are there any new bands around in the genre that you like?

Love it!!!!!!!!! Tundra Trash Radio!!!! All of it is awsome..... Sleep... War Horse... Electric Wizzard.... Today Is The Day... Mastadon.... Lamb Of God... Kyuss.... Sunn O))).... Spirit Caravan... Typo... and Wet Animal, Super Shine, Lid ,Tortured Soul and Retro Grave.

Can you walk us through the songwriting process that Trouble has gone through in the past for coming up with new tunes?

Team ups like Eric and Bruce... Rick and Bruce, Ian Brown before... Sean Mac wrote "The Tempter", "Wickedness", "Endtime" and "The Last Judgement"! We would learn riff by riff on the couch unplugged... we called it chicken pickin'... "Bastards" was written to my double bass beat and they just played a rhythm and added that double lead....Barry played a groove for "Scuze Me".

Is there any advice you might give to aspiring musicians, bands or drummers?

Never Stop... always Jam...

Do you have any specific techniques or tips you use to improve your playing ability?

Rudimental techniques and playing all of Brann Dailor's music!

Finally, is there any interview question you've always wanted to answer, but no one has ever asked?

This is a pretty cool question! ...Yes! Do I have a new record coming out?... Yes! Not to be confused with the new Trouble record... I am putting out a record called Retro Grave... by a branch of Trouble called "Trouble Again"... sort of like the Kiss records...they all did a project with the Kiss logo... the Trouble cross will show up on Retro Grave.

My thanks to Jeff for making this interview possible, and to everyone in Trouble for making great music. Trouble's new album, Simple Mind Condition, will be released through Century Media records, estimated for early 2007. To visit the band's official website, go to www.newtrouble.com.