Chrisse Olsson of Dirty Passion Interview

INTERVIEW WITH CHRISSE OLSSON OF DIRTY PASSION
Date: November 3, 2015
Interviewer: Olivier

YESTERDAY, SLEAZE ROCKERS, DIRTY PASSION, MADE THE SHOCK AND SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE BAND MEMBERS WERE TAKING AN INDEFINITE BREAK FROM THE GROUP. SLEAZE ROXX WAS GRANTED A RARE INTERVIEW WITH DIRTY PASSION’S TALENTED GUITARIST, CHRISSE OLSSON, WHO CANDIDLY PROVIDED THE GROUP’S REASONS FOR TAKING AN INDEFINITE BREAK AT THIS POINT AND TIME.

Sleaze Roxx: I was quite surprised to see that Dirty Passion recently announced that the band is taking an indefinite break but not breaking up. What are the reasons for this announcement and decision?

Chrisse Olsson: All of us have been doing Dirty Passion stuff almost every day for the last couple of years. It’s not just the song writing, recording and touring. There is always so much stuff that people don’t see, that needs to get done to be able to do a tour, get a new album or video out. But we’ve enjoyed it. We have gotten our music out there and we have done a lot of touring. It’s all fun stuff. However, we never really had a break before. We’ve been very hungry for it all to happen. It’s just time for a break and do other stuff for a while.

Sleaze Roxx: The announcement is all the more surprising since Dirty Passion had just released a new album on February 22, 2015 — which is really good by the way. Do you think that taking a break at this juncture will kill or hurt the band’s momentum?

Chrisse Olsson: Thank you! I’m not sure that taking a break will hurt Dirty Passion’s momentum. I don’t think we would take a break if we thought that people will forget all about us. I’m sure that we will deliver a new kick ass album when the time is right. But we just can’t do that right now.

Sleaze Roxx: Since when have the band members in Dirty Passion been thinking of taking a break?

Chrisse Olsson: We’ve been thinking of taking a break for a couple of months now. We just haven’t talked about it. It has been some months where we all tried to find the spark and motivation to do the “next thing” — like starting the process of working on a new album. Basically, we haven’t found the motivation for it, and during that time, people have started other projects, joined other bands. People are focusing on their other projects.

Sleaze Roxx: Dirty Passion’s announcement indicates that the band does not know when it will come back but that it will come back at some point. Are you able to shed some light on how long that Dirty Passion band members intend to take a break and what projects and/or things that each of you will be doing during the break from the band?

Chrisse Olsson: I really don’t know when we will be back. All I can say is we will be back when we feel that the time is right for it. Of course, I will miss it all. We are not booking any shows for next year. Our bass player Nas has a couple of projects going. He’s in a Swedish punk band called The Negatives and they always have stuff happening. Kriss will probably record some songs, most likely country/rock songs with a lot of acoustic guitars. Micke is a total drum freak! He collects, restores, rebuilds and probably will have sex with drums [laughs]! I don’t know if Micke has plans for other projects or if he will just focus on his drum workshop. I have been rehearsing with another band. They are all great musicians and nice guys, so it all feels good. I can’t see why I couldn’t be in two bands in the future. Most of the guys in Dirty Passion always had projects other than Dirty Passion and we never had any problems with that.

Sleaze Roxx: Danny Rexon of Crazy Lixx recently told Sleaze Roxx in an interview that “When it comes to our specific genre, it has definitely reached its peak a couple of years ago and is now on the decline at least in Sweden.” What are your thoughts in that regard?

Chrisse Olsson: There are still a lot of sleaze/hard rock bands in Sweden. Many of these bands do tours all around Europe, festivals, putting out albums, etc. But most only play just one or two gigs in Sweden a year…

Sleaze Roxx: Bands usually have high expectations when they release a new album and I suspect that would have been the case with Dirty Passion as well with the self-titled album released on February 22, 2015. What were the band’s expectations for the last album and were those expectations met?

Chrisse Olsson: We felt that we did a great album and we were hoping for good reviews and offers to play at summer festivals. We got great reviews. Metal Temple gave it 10/10. Sleaze Nation wrote “No fillers, just killers.” I think there was one new good review out every day in March. But as far as festivals, we didn’t get any offers. I guess all slots were booked in February already. But we were hoping we would get at least some of the last slots.

Sleaze Roxx: I noticed that Dirty Passion had a long promotional period of at least three months between the time that the band’s last self-titled album was available for review by various publications such as Sleaze Roxx and the time that it was actually released to the public on February 22, 2015. Do you think that this promotional period was too long, too short, or just right, and why?

Chrisse Olsson: That was not our decision, It was all the record company’s choice. But I think it was just right. There were reviews out the same day the album was released.

Sleaze Roxx: Had you and the rest of the guys already written some material for the next album and if so, how far were you in the writing process?

Chrisse Olsson: There are some ideas that exist for new songs. But we do not have any new songs that are ready to be recorded. We are also taking a break from the writing process as well.

Sleaze Roxx: What have been your highlights in terms of your journey with Dirty Passion so far?

Chrisse Olsson: There have been a couple of things that I dreamed about when I was a kid that have come true. For example, I have always wanted to open for Saxon and we’ve done that two times now! That dream would never have come true if it wasn’t for Dirty Passion. Of course, we’ve had so much fun on the tours. I will probably never reach that crazy joy with anything else but I know there will be more highlights to come in the future — on a future Dirty Passion tour!

Sleaze Roxx: What have been your low points in terms of your time in Dirty Passion to date?

Chrisse Olsson: There are always fuckers that book bands for shows and never pay what has been agreed upon. That’s happened. It’s pretty common that bands get ripped of. It took a couple of years before we realized what was really going on.

Sleaze Roxx: Is there anything else that you would like to add that we have not covered?

Chrisse Olsson: KISS rules!

Sleaze Roxx: [Laughs] That leads well into my last question for you — what are your three favorite albums of all-time and why?

Chrisse Olsson: KISS’ ‘Love Gun’ is probably my all-time favorite album. Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live And Dangerous’ is also a favorite of mine. Roky Erickson’s ‘The Evil One’ — I could listen to that album for a week without turning it of [laughs]! I have many favorites but there are three of them!