Jeff Olson

Jeff Olson
Background information
Birth Name	Jeff Olson
Alias	Oly
Born	14 July 1962
Occupation	Musician, Brewmaster, Internet Radio Host
Genres	Doom Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Hard Rock
Instrument(s)	Drums, Keyboards, Vocals
Years active	1975 - Present
Labels	Metal Blade, Combat, Def American, Upland, Svart
Associated acts	Trouble, Supershine, Wet Animal, The Skull, Retro Grave, Victor Griffin's In-Graved
Website	Oly Olson on Facebook

Jeff Olson, also known as Oly, is a multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Maine. He is best known as a founding member of the pioneering doom metal band Trouble, in which he performed on nearly every studio album in some capacity including the seminal albums Psalm 9 and The Skull. Along with his endeavors in Trouble, Oly had performed with several acts associated with Trouble, most notably The Skull between 2012 and 2014. Oly had written or co-wrote numerous songs with both Trouble and The Skull over the years including "Victim of The Insane", "E.N.D.", "Till The End of Time", "Beginning of Sorrows", "Sick of It All", "The Door" and "Send Judas Down".

Along with his endeavors in Trouble, Oly is currently active with his own band Retro Grave, along with his own radio show in Heady Metal With Jeff Olson along with his endeavors working at Allagash Brewing.

Biography

Early Life and Career

Olson was born on 14 July 1962 in Wareham, Massachusetts. He moved to Aurora, Illinois at age five. He first learned to play the piano at age six and the trumpet at age eight. In 1975, Olson began marching for Drum Corps International (DCI) in the Fox Valley Raiders playing Melephone. In 1977, Olson changed instruments with the Fox Valley Raiders and began playing first soprano bugle. By 1978, he shocked his horn instructors and auditioned and made the snare line until the corps folded that year. Olson then joined the Blue Stars in early 1978, but the drum line was full. He, therefore, marched the season again as first soprano bugle until he joined the band Trouble in 1979. Olson can be seen on the DCI Legacy DVD (front row first soprano bugle side left).

During Trouble's hiatuses he graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1992 with a BM degree in Film Scoring and later composed music for the Borealis Theater Company in Chicago. In 1996, Olson created the "electronic music ensemble" course when he was a teacher of midi and recording techniques at Waubonsee Community College in Aurora, Illinois. The following year, he was commissioned by the Paula Fraz Dance Company in Chicago to arrange and compose original music for the performance of Songs My Mother Sang Me. Olson received the Ruth Page Award for his work on that production.

Trouble

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Trouble.

Trouble was formed in 1979 by Rick Wartell and was joined by guitarist Bruce Franklin, vocalist Eric Wagner, bassist Tim Ian Brown (not to be confused with lead singer of English band The Stone Roses), and drummer Jeff "Oly" Olson. The band was drawing heavily from Black Sabbath for inspiration (with occasional nods to the psychedelic sounds of the late 1960s), complimented by inspiration from the Bible.

The band toured throughout the Midwest during the early 1980s before signing with Metal Blade Records and releasing their eponymous debut (later referred to as Psalm 9) in 1984, an album cited as important to the development of doom metal. The Skull followed in 1985 and reflected singer Wagner's struggles with substance abuse as well as growing turmoil within the group. Olson would depart the band in 1985 to pursue studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Dennis Lesh was drafted as his replacement for 1987's Run To The Light though Olson would contribute Hammond Organ to "The Beginning". The band would go on hiatus for a time soon after along with recruiting Barry Stern as their drummer in 1989.

Sometime during the band's hiatus Rick Rubin's Def American Records would sign the band for whom they recorded a second self-titled album (Trouble) in 1990 with Rubin producing. The band's sound shifted from their traditional doom roots and put a stronger emphasis on a psychedelic rock sound. Olson would contribute keyboards to the album. A follow-up would come in 1992's Manic Frustration which is to date the only Trouble full-length not to feature Olson.

The band would sign with Music For Nations for 1995's Plastic Green Head to which Olson had returned to the band. The band would tour in support of the record albeit sporadically. Trouble would go on hiatus in April 1996. Eric Wagner would depart the band in 1997 to form Lid. Trouble didn't break up but rather took a hiatus with former Exhorder singer Kyle Thomas as the vocalist. The band had only played a handful of gigs with Thomas on vocals between 1997 and 2000. Guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell would start their own projects in the late 1990s. Franklin would start Supershine with Doug Pinnick (King's X) while Wartell would start Wet Animal. Olson contributed to both bands, including both band's sole album releases.

Eric Wagner would eventually rejoin Trouble a few years later, citing his contribution to Dave Grohl's Probot as one of the inspirations to rejoin the band. Since that time, the band has played individual gigs throughout the Chicago area and metal festivals in Europe and the U.S. while working on a new album. A concert in Stockholm, Sweden (Alongside Candlemass and Force of Evil) in 2003 produced the live DVD Live in Stockholm.

After touring again for a string of dates in 2003, Trouble entered the studio on August 9 to begin recording a seven-track acoustic compilation of their classic material, which would include a brand-new song written by Robinson and singer Eric Wagner, and would only be available on the band's web site. In July 2003, it was reported that Trouble would enter the studio in before the end of the year with producer Vincent Wojno to redo the follow-up to Plastic Green Head. According to Eric Wagner, 15 songs had been written so far for Seven, including "After The Rain", "Seven", "A Bad Situation", "Goin' Home", "Doombox" and "A New Generation". In regards to the album Wagner stated, "It's still heavy, it's still Trouble, maybe a little more modern. It's still us. It's our seventh album and it was going to be seven years since our last album, but now it's going to be a little more.".

Holzner left the band soon after to be replaced by Chuck Robinson. The band's seventh album Simple Mind Condition was finally released in Europe on 3 April 2007 by Escapi Music. The band toured internationally in support of its release but were not able to secure a U.S. release date for the album until over two years later. An Unplugged album was later released through the band's website and later Escapi Music.

In May 2008, it was announced that Eric Wagner has left the band and had been replaced by Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul, a contrast in vocal sound to Eric Wagner's melodic delivery that was criticized by some fans. Wagner's departure was said to be from a lack of interest in touring. Jeff Olson also announced his departure from the band in July 2008 to continue with his own band, Retro Grave. Olson's last show with Trouble was, coincidentally, at a rock club called, "The End" in Nashville, Tennessee. Olson was replaced by Wet Animal's Mark Lira. After some lineup changes Trouble would release their eighth album The Distortion Field in July 2013, to which Olson would provide keyboards as a guest.

Retro Grave

Retro Grave would initially form in 2006 while Olson was residing in Aurora, Illinois and currently is based in Maine. The project would release an eponymous EP in 2007, followed by a debut album in Again the next year. The project has performed live on a few occasions, mainly at festivals such as Days of The Doomed, with some performances featuring other members of Trouble (and in turn led to the formation of The Skull).

By the 2010s Retro Grave would re-locate to Maine, beginning work on a second studio album. In 2019 the band would release a digital single for "Beginning of Sorrows (Aspasia Remix)". This single was made as a tribute to Aspasia 'Sia' Van Wyck, whom died in 2017.

The Skull

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on The Skull.

The Skull is a doom metal band founded by Trouble members Eric Wagner, Ron Holzner and Olson, along with guitarist Lothar Keller. While The Skull officially began as a full band in 2012, the roots of the band's creation can be tied to a set at the 2011 Days of The Doomed festival on June 18 when Eric Wagner joined Jeff Olson, Ron Holzner and Sean McAllister to comprise a special set of classic Trouble songs. The next year the band officially formed. However before tours would take place through the Summer, On 23 May 2012, Olson announced his departure from the band stating he will "wait for a real Trouble reunion with original members or not play Trouble's music at all.". In a press release on 20 August 2013, Olson announced that he had a change of heart and rejoined The Skull, saying "I want to rock again". Olson participated in The Skull's 2014 tour celebrating Trouble's 30th anniversary of their debut record, Psalm 9. Work would begin on new, original songs and a West Coast tour surrounding Denver Doom Fest would take place in late 2013.

In 2014 The Skull would sign to Tee Pee Records and release the single Sometime Yesterday Mourning which would feature a re-recording of the Trouble song "The Last Judgement" as the b-side for the song's thirtieth anniversary. The Skull released their debut album on Tee Pee Records entitled For Those Which Are Asleep in November that year. A short tour of the United States would follow along with Jeff Olson's amicable departure from the band as he would attain a promotion at Allagash Brewing and thus needed to dedicate more time there.

For Those Which Are Asleep would attain positive reception, with numerous comparisons to Trouble's early doom metal years. The Obelisk would praise the album, stating that "The Skull‘s debut benefits greatly from the pedigree and experience of the band’s members, and there’s no getting around the band’s link to Trouble — nor do I think they’re asking their audience to; they do close with that cover after all — but For Those Which are Asleep also marks the beginning of a branching out from that foundation, and hopefully it’s just the start of a progression that continues to take on a life of its own as it moves forward. For now, within classic doom, I can’t think of anything I could ask from these players that it doesn’t deliver.". For Those Which Are Asleep would also rank #8 on The Obelisk's top 30 albums of 2014.

Other critics that elicited praise to For Those Which Are Asleep would include the likes of Metal Rules (4/5), Angry Metal Guy (4/5), Metal Life (4.5/5), Markus' Heavy Music Blog (9/10) and Metal Assault (9.5/10).

Other Projects and Endeavors

• In 2001, Olson started his own label in Upland Recording, which released two albums in its first year. One was a children's album, Children's Stories from Around the World, narrated by Marie Fraz. The other was a jazz and classical album, Music to Cook By, compiled from his previous theater work.

• On 5 July 2010, Olson premiered an Internet radio show, Heady Metal with Jeff Olson, via Metal Messiah Radio. The show features interviews with musicians from different metal genres across the board, comedic segments, and music news. Olson's first guest was Dave Chandler (Saint Vitus, Debris Inc.) The show would host a wide range of musical guests over the years, including former members of Trouble.

• On 20 December 2012, Olson announced that he will play Hammond organ on the forthcoming debut album from In-Graved, a project led by Victor Griffin (Death Row, Pentagram, Place of Skulls). The end result would be Victor Griffin's In-Graved, released by Svart Records on 22 March 2013.

Victor Griffin's In-Graved saw positive reception upon release from several critics, including The Obelisk, Metal Temple (8/10), Metal Kaoz (8/10), Louder Sound (4 Stars), Your Last Rites, The Sludgelord and Angry Metal Guy just to name a few.

Olson would also be part of the band's touring lineup on keyboards, including appearances at the likes of Roadburn Festival, DesertFest Berlin, Doom Shall Rise and Desertfest London among other marquee performances. Along with the performance, he (Along with Victor Griffin) would be commissioned to conduct the first master class at that year's Roadburn.

• On 25 January 2014, Allagash Brewing Company released a pilot beer called "Red Howes" brewed by Olson. The beer is an Imperial Stout brewed with cranberries and was named after his grandfather who built cranberry bogs in Massachusetts. On the release day, Olson performed an hour of live music at the brewery located in Portland, Maine. A CD was given out with each 750 ML purchase of "Red Howes" that consisted of Retro Grave music, Red Howes gospel music, and stories narrated by Howes.

• Olson would appear as a guest and a second drummer for the New York experimental band GNAW in December 2016.

Personal Life

Olson married his personal manager, Leigh Rush, in a private ceremony on Saturday, 25 October 2008. Rush wore a traditional white dress while Olson donned a black tuxedo with his traditional Chuck Taylors. The couple currently resides in Kennebunk, Maine.

Bands

• The Fox Valley Raiders - Melephone, Soprano Bugle, Snare Drums (1975 - 1978)
• Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps - Soprano Bugle (1978 - 1979)
• Trouble - Drums, Keyboards (1979 - 1985, 1993 - 2008)
• Supershine - Drums (1998 - ?)
• Wet Animal - Drums (1999 - ?)
• Retro Grave - All Instruments, Vocals (2007 - Present)
• The Skull - Drums (2012, 2013 - 2015)
• Victor Griffin's In-Graved - Keyboards (2012 - 2013)
• GNAW - Live Drums (2016)

Discography

With Trouble (Selected)

• Psalm 9 (Drums) (1984, Metal Blade)
• The Skull (Drums) (1985, Metal Blade)
• Run To The Light (Hammond Organ on "The Beginning") (1987, Metal Blade)
• Trouble (Keyboards) (1990, Def Jam American)
• Plastic Green Head (Drums) (1995, Bullet Proof)
• Simple Mind Condition (Drums, Piano, French Horn) (2007, Escapi)
• Unplugged (EP; Drums and Piano) (2007, Self-Released; 2009, FRW)
• The Distortion Field (Keyboards) (2013, FRW)

With Retro Grave

• Retro Grave (EP) (2007, Upland)
• Again (Studio Album) (2008, Upland)
• Beginning of Sorrows (Aspasia Remix) (Digital Single) (2019, Self-Released)

Selected Other Releases

• Supershine - Supershine (Studio Album) (2000, Metal Blade Records)
• Wet Animal - Wet Animal (Studio Album) (2005, Escapi Music)
• Victor Griffin - Victor Griffin's In-Graved (Studio Album) (2013, Svart Records)
• The Skull - Sometime Yesterday Mourning (Single) (2014, Tee Pee Records)
• The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep (Studio Album) (2014, Tee Pee Records)

External Links

• Retro Grave Official
• Olson on Twitter
• Heady Metal on YouTube
• Retro Grave on YouTube