Chris Vrenna
Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania[2]) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1989 until 1997, and was the keyboardist and drummer of the American rock band Marilyn Manson from 2004 until late 2011.
Chris Vrenna | |
|---|---|
Chris Vrenna recording in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Vrenna |
| Born | February 23, 1967 Erie, Pennsylvania[1] |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | Tweaker |
| Formerly of | |
As a member of Nine Inch Nails, Vrenna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Career
Vrenna is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania.[3] He graduated from McDowell High School in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1985 and marched in the Erie Thunderbirds Drum and Bugle Corps. Vrenna then moved to Chicago, quickly becoming a part of the Chicago industrial music scene and was briefly a member of Die Warzau and Stabbing Westward.[4]
He later reconnected with Trent Reznor, whom he met during high school in Pennsylvania,[3] when they both were in local Cleveland, Ohio band the Exotic Birds. He also toured as a live drummer for KMFDM during the Money era tours, in 1992. He records under the name Tweaker, and has released four albums under that name: The Attraction to All Things Uncertain (2001), 2 a.m. Wakeup Call (2004), Call The Time Eternity (2012), and And Then There's Nothing (2013). Tweaker toured select North American dates with Skinny Puppy in 2004.[5]
As producer, remixer, or engineer Vrenna has worked with The Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Gary Numan, Scar the Martyr, David Sylvian, Mudvayne, Lords of Acid, God Lives Underwater, Megadeth, Rammstein, Metallica, The Rasmus, Weezer, P.O.D., David Bowie, Slipknot, Cold, underwater, Scarling., Hole, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Green Day, Bush, Live, Adema, the Wallflowers, Dir en grey, Psyclon Nine, and others. He has also worked with the industrial group Pigface and produced songs and albums for underground girl groups TCR, Jack Off Jill, and Rasputina.[6]
Vrenna has also worked on music for several video games, including Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Doom 3 (as producer with Clint Walsh), Quake 4, American McGee's Alice, its sequel Alice: Madness Returns, Enter the Matrix, Sonic The Hedgehog, Area 51, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. In 2004, he started soundtrack work on Tabula Rasa, a massive multiplayer online game. He also helped compose the theme song to the animated series Xiaolin Showdown.[7]
He can be seen performing in the music videos for the songs "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole", "Gave Up", "Wish", "The Perfect Drug" and "March of the Pigs" on the Nine Inch Nails video compilation Closure.[8]
Vrenna won a Grammy award as a member of Nine Inch Nails for "Best Metal Performance" for "Happiness in Slavery" in 1995 for the live performance of the song on Woodstock '94.[9]
Vrenna was Billy Corgan's programmer for four months in 1997. While he was on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, Vrenna got a call from Axl Rose, who invited Vrenna to spend time with Guns N' Roses to work on what would become Chinese Democracy. "I did for a couple weeks, but then decided I didn't want to join the band", said Vrenna.[10] Vrenna stated in a later interview that he was in the band for several months before dropping out due to the required time commitment.[11]
Vrenna was chosen to take over the drumming responsibilities for Marilyn Manson after Ginger Fish was injured in 2004 during the Lest We Forget tour. He then replaced Madonna Wayne Gacy as the permanent keyboardist for Marilyn Manson. Vrenna co-produced the albums The High End of Low (2009) and Born Villain (2012). In April 2011, following the departure of Marilyn Manson's drummer Ginger Fish, Chris Vrenna was announced to be his official replacement. However, in November 2011, it was announced that Vrenna had parted ways with the band in order to focus on scoring movies and video games.[12]
In 2015, Vrenna composed the music on a series of downloadable content packs called Exo Zombies for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.[13]
In 2017, it was announced by Vrenna's Facebook page that he would be composing music for the upcoming video game, Quake Champions, which marks his second collaboration with id Software since Doom 3.[14][15]
Vrenna earned his master's degree in music technology in 2020. He's been a college instructor of music technology since 2013.[16]
In 2020 Vrenna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside members of Nine Inch Nails.[17]
Discography
Solo
Instrumental contributions
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Instrument(s) | Song(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Electric Metal Bass Face | 1991 | Die Warzau | Drums | — |
| Broken | 1992 | Nine Inch Nails | Drums | "Wish" "Gave Up" |
| The Downward Spiral | 1994 | Drums Programming | "Hurt" "Burn" | |
| Portrait of an American Family | 1994 | Marilyn Manson | Percussion | "Dope Hat" |
| Natural Born Killers | 1994 | Various Artists | Drums | "Burn" by Nine Inch Nails |
| Smells Like Children | 1995 | Marilyn Manson | Programming | — |
| Load | 1996 | Metallica | Programming | — |
| Antichrist Superstar | 1996 | Marilyn Manson | Programming Drums | "Kinderfeld" |
| Lost Highway | 1997 | Trent Reznor | Drums | "Driver Down" "The Perfect Drug" |
| Batman & Robin | 1997 | The Smashing Pumpkins | Programming | "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" |
| Songs of the Witchblade | 1998 | Various artists | Programming | "Saraphrenia" "Finale: Apocalypticraft / Tunnel" |
| How We Quit the Forest | 1998 | Rasputina | Drums Programming | — |
| SuperCoolNothing | 1998 | 16 Volt | Drums | — |
| Celebrity Skin | 1998 | Hole | Programming | — |
| Love Thinketh No Evil | 1999 | Peter Himmelman | Drums | "Eyeball" |
| Neve | 2000 | Neve | Programming | — |
| 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage | 2000 | Cold | Programming | — |
| The World Needs a Hero | 2001 | Megadeth | Percussion | "Disconnect" |
| Weird Revolution | 2001 | Butthole Surfers | Drum Programming | "Jet Fighter" |
| Commencement | 2002 | Deadsy | Programming | — |
| Modern Folk and Blues: Wednesday | 2006 | Bob Forrest | Drums | — |
| Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose | 2006 | Meat Loaf | Programming | "Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose" |
| The High End of Low | 2009 | Marilyn Manson | Programming | — |
| Evanescence | 2011 | Evanescence | Keyboards Programming | — |
| Born Villain | 2012 | Marilyn Manson | Drums Programming Keyboards | — |
| Scar the Martyr | 2013 | Scar the Martyr | Programming | — |
| Man on the Run | 2014 | Bush | Keyboards | — |
| Underneath | 2020 | Code Orange | Programming | — |
| The Bitter Truth | 2021 | Evanescence | Programming | "Far From Heaven" |
Soundtracks
| Year | Title | Developer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Quake | id Software | Credited as member of Nine Inch Nails[18] Co-composed with Trent Reznor |
| 2000 | American McGee's Alice | Rogue Entertainment | — |
| 2003 | Xiaolin Showdown | — | Television series Composed with Clint Walsh Theme music |
| 2004 | Doom 3 | id Software | Theme music producer[19] Also provided additional in-game sounds[20] Theme music composed with Clint Walsh Also credited in Doom 3 BFG Edition |
| 2004 | The Sims 2 | Maxis | "Dance Down" track |
| 2005 | Area 51 | Midway Studios Austin | Additional music composition by Robert King and Clint Walsh |
| 2005 | Quake 4 | Raven Software | Theme music producer Composed with Clint Walsh |
| 2005 | Need for Speed: Most Wanted | EA Black Box | Composed with Paul Linford on two tracks |
| 2007 | Tabula Rasa | Destination Games | Composed with Clint Walsh, Curse Mackey and Tracy W. Bush |
| 2011 | Alice: Madness Returns | Spicy Horse | "Wastelands" track |
| 2015 | Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare | Sledgehammer Games Raven Software (Exo Zombies) | Exo Zombies game mode available in Havoc DLC pack |
| 2022 | Quake Champions | id Software | With Andrew Hulshult |
Remixes
| Song | Artist | Album | Label | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Assimilate (Tweaker Mix - Chris Vrenna Remix)" | Skinny Puppy | Remix Dystemper | Nettwerk | 1998 |
| "From Your Mouth (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | God Lives Underwater | Rearrange EP | 1500 Records | 1998 |
| "Freaking Out (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | Adema | Insomniac's Dream | Arista Records | 2002 |
| "Will You (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | P.O.D. | Will You | Atlantic Records | 2003 |
| "Lights Out (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | P.O.D. | Goodbye For Now | Atlantic Records | 2005 |
| "Blood On My Hands (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | theSTART | Blood On My Hands (Digital Only Single) | Metropolis Records | 2007 |
| "Late Night Shopping (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | David Sylvian | Waxploitation Presents: Causes 1 | Waxploitation Records | 2007 |
| "If Only (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | Dethcentrik | Electronic Saviors Volume 3: Remission | Metropolis Records | 2014 |
| "No Funeral (Remixed by Tweaker)" | Nachtmystium | Retox: Remixes and Rarities | Earache Records | 2017[21] |
| "Rosenrot (The Tweaker Remix by Chris Vrenna)" | Rammstein | Remixes | Universal | 2020 |
| "In An Endless Dream (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | PORN | Mr Strangler's Last Words | Les Disques Rubicon | 2020 |
With Tweaker
- The Attraction to All Things Uncertain (2001)
- 2 a.m. Wakeup Call (2004)
- Call the Time Eternity (2012)
References
- ^ "Local man inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". November 15, 2020.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 (BIRTHDAY)". drummercafe.com.
- ^ a b . Theninhotline.net. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ Few, John (August 4, 2020). "Former Nine Inch Nails drummer and Madison resident Chris Vrenna to be Calhoun's 2020 commencement speaker". The Madison Record.
- ^ at 10:34, Leviathant. "The Nine Inch Nails Hotline". www.theninhotline.com.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna Albums and Discography". AllMusic.
- ^ "WarnerBros.com | Chris Vrenna To Compose And Produce Main Title Song For Warner Bros. Animation's "Xiaolin Showdown" Set To Air On Kids' WB!, Beginning November 2003 | Press Releases". www.warnerbros.com.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna". IMDb.
- ^ "Events for December 2022 – School of Music".
- ^ "July 2002 – Chris Vrenna". Audiohead.net. April 5, 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "Interview with Chris Vrenna on VampireFreaks.com". 2010.
- ^ Ramirez, Carlos. [1] 'Tweaker's Chris Vrenna on Playing Drums for Marilyn Manson: 'I Just Couldn't Take the Lifestyle Anymore' Noisecreep.com September 18, 2012
- ^ Excited to announce the latest project I've been working on! on Facebook
- ^ Excited to announce that I've been working on the score to Quake Champions! on Facebook
- ^ "Chris Vrenna writes OST for Quake Champions, News". Plus Forward. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna and Master of Music Degree Online at SUU". SUU. October 14, 2020.
- ^ "2020 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES".
- ^ "American McGee on Quake". Quaddicted. 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John. "Doom 3 One hell of a game". Fangoria. p. 22. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Doom 3 – Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
- ^ "Blake Judd Releases Nachtmystium Remixes/Rarities Collection, Vows to "Make Things Right" with Fans". MetalSucks. April 11, 2016.
External links
- Tweaker