Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1988 until 1996, and was the keyboardist and drummer of the American rock band Marilyn Manson from 2004 until late 2011.
Chris Vrenna | |
|---|---|
 Vrenna in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Vrenna |
| Also known as | podBoy |
| Born | February 23, 1967 Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Member of | Tweaker |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | chrisvrenna |
As a member of Nine Inch Nails, Vrenna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Career
editVrenna was born on February 23, 1967, in Erie, Pennsylvania.[1] He graduated from McDowell High School in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1985, having marched in the Erie Thunderbirds Drum and Bugle Corps. At age 19, while attending Kent State University, Vrenna was recruited by acquaintance Trent Reznor, whom he had met during high school in Pennsylvania,[2] to play drums for local Cleveland, Ohio, band the Exotic Birds.[3]
After being let go from Nine Inch Nails in late 1990, 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. He also toured as a live drummer for KMFDM during the Money era tours, in 1992. He then rejoined Nine Inch Nails as the drummer from 1993-1996.
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.[4]
As producer, remixer, or engineer Vrenna has worked with The Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Humanzi, 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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] Vrenna stated in a later interview that he was in the band for several months before dropping out due to the required time commitment.[10]
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.[11]
In 2015, Vrenna composed the music on a series of downloadable content packs called Exo Zombies for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.[12]
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.[13][14]
Vrenna earned his master's degree in music technology in 2020. He's been a college instructor of music technology since 2013.[15]
In 2020, Vrenna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside members of Nine Inch Nails.[16]
In May 2024 it was announced that Vrenna would join the faculty of the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance as an assistant professor in the fall 2024 semester.[17]
Discography
editSolo
editInstrumental contributions
edit| 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 | — |
| Clear Hearts Grey Flowers | 2000 | Jack Off Jill | Proudecer | — |
| 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 | — |
| Sweet Heart Dealer | 2004 | Scarling | Producer | — |
| 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
edit| 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
edit| 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 |
| "Elevation (Tomb Raider Remix)" | U2 | Elevation | Island Records Interscope Records |
2001 |
| "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 |
| "Rosenrot (The Tweaker Remix by Chris Vrenna)" | Rammstein | Rosenrot single | Universal | 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] |
| "In An Endless Dream (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | PORN | Mr Strangler's Last Words | Les Disques Rubicon | 2020 |
| "The Grind" (Chris Vrenna's Grind Version) | SPANKTHENUN | The Grind (Extended Single) | words of mass disruption media | 2024 |
With Tweaker
edit- The Attraction to All Things Uncertain (2001)
- 2 a.m. Wakeup Call (2004)
- Call the Time Eternity (2012)
References
edit- ^ "Chris Vrenna Albums and Discography". AllMusic.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails". Rhythm. Music Maker Publications. March 1997. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ Rademaker, Ken (January 22, 1987). "Exotic Birds: better music through technology". Scene. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ at 10:34, Leviathant. "The Nine Inch Nails Hotline". www.theninhotline.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "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 October 30, 2011.
- ^ "Interview with Chris Vrenna on VampireFreaks.com". 2010. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- ^ 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. January 25, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
- ^ "Chris Vrenna and Master of Music Degree Online at SUU". SUU. October 14, 2020.
- ^ "2020 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES".
- ^ "Former Nine Inch Nails drummer to teach at University of Michigan".
- ^ "American McGee on Quake". Quaddicted. 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John. "Doom 3 One hell of a game". Fangoria. p. 22. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ "Doom 3 – Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ^ "Blake Judd Releases Nachtmystium Remixes/Rarities Collection, Vows to "Make Things Right" with Fans". MetalSucks. April 11, 2016.
External links
editMedia related to Chris Vrenna at Wikimedia Commons
- Tweaker
- Chris Vrenna at AllMusic