Chris Vrenna | |
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![]() Chris Vrenna recording in 2013 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Chris A. Vrenna |
Born | Erie, Pennsylvania | February 23, 1967
Origin | Chicago, Illinois |
Genres | Industrial rock, industrial metal, alternative rock, electronica |
Instruments | Drums, keyboards, vocals, piano, synthesizer, guitar, bass, programming |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | Six Degrees, Waxploitation |
Associated acts | Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Tweaker, Stabbing Westward, Gnarls Barkley |
Chris A. Vrenna (born February 23, 1967) [1] is an American musician, Grammy-winning 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.
Vrenna 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.
He later reconnected with Trent Reznor, whom he met during high school in Pennsylvania, [1] 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.
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, PORN [2] and Psyclon Nine. He has also worked with the industrial group Pigface and produced songs and albums for underground girl groups TCR, Jack Off Jill, and Rasputina.
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 .
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 .
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.
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. [3] Vrenna stated in a later interview that he was in the band for several months before dropping out due to the required time commitment. [4]
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. [5]
In 2015, Vrenna composed the music on a series of downloadable content packs called Exo Zombies for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare . [6]
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 . [7] [8]
In 2020 Vrenna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside members of the Nine Inch Nails.
Title | Year | Artist(s) | Instrument(s) | Song(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Big Electric Metal Bass Face | 1991 | Die Warzau | Drums | N/A |
Broken | 1992 | Nine Inch Nails | Drums | "Wish" "Gave Up" |
The Downward Spiral | 1994 | Drums | "Hurt" | |
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 | N/A |
Load | 1996 | Metallica | Programming | N/A |
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 | N/A |
SuperCoolNothing | 1998 | 16 Volt | Drums | N/A |
Celebrity Skin | 1998 | Hole | Programming | N/A |
Love Thinketh No Evil | 1999 | Peter Himmelman | Drums | "Eyeball" |
Neve | 2000 | Neve | Programming | N/A |
13 Ways to Bleed on Stage | 2000 | Cold | Programming | N/A |
The World Needs a Hero | 2001 | Megadeth | Percussion | "Disconnect" |
Weird Revolution | 2001 | Butthole Surfers | Drum Programming | "Jet Fighter" |
Commencement | 2002 | Deadsy | Programming | N/A |
Modern Folk and Blues: Wednesday | 2006 | Bob Forrest | Drums | N/A |
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 | N/A |
Evanescence | 2011 | Evanescence | Keyboards Programming | N/A |
Scar the Martyr | 2013 | Scar the Martyr | Programming | N/A |
Man on the Run | 2014 | Bush | Keyboards | N/A |
Underneath | 2020 | Code Orange | Programming | N/A |
Year | Title | Developer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | Quake | id Software | Credited as member of Nine Inch Nails [9] Co-composed with Trent Reznor |
2000 | American McGee's Alice | Rogue Entertainment | N/A |
2003 | Xiaolin Showdown | N/A | Television series Composed with Clint Walsh Theme music |
2004 | Doom 3 | id Software | Theme music producer [10] Also provided additional in-game sounds [11] 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 |
2017 | Quake Champions | id Software | With Andrew Hulshult |
Song | Artist | Album | Label | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
"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 |
"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 [12] |
"In an endless dream (Chris Vrenna Remix)" | PORN | Mr Strangler's last words | Les disques Rubicon | 2020 |
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Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as a consultant, has written books, and is the music business program coordinator at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Atkins is an honorary board member of the Chicago-based nonprofit organisation Rock For Kids.
Jeordie Osbourne White, once known professionally as Twiggy Ramirez, shortened to just Twiggy since 2008, and sometimes referred to by his real name, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the band Marilyn Manson. Previously, he was the bassist for A Perfect Circle and a touring member of Nine Inch Nails, and is currently the vocalist for Goon Moon. He left Marilyn Manson in 2002, later rejoined the band in 2008, and was dismissed in 2017. He has been a principal songwriter for the band and has also contributed to some of the Desert Sessions recordings. He also hosts the Hour of Goon podcast with fellow musician Fred Sablan, on the Feral Audio network.
Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.
"Head Like a Hole" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the second single from the group's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine.
Sean Beavan is a musician, record producer, and audio engineer best known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Guns N' Roses, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer. His production style is typically heavy, with heavily saturated guitars, but his work is diverse and wide ranging as exemplified by bands like No Doubt to System of a Down, to indie bands like Thrice, Envy on the Coast, Hypernova (band), 8mm, and even death metal band Morbid Angel.
Tweaker is an American alternative rock collaboration project band founded by Chris Vrenna in the late 1990s. Tweaker's musical style incorporates synthpop, progressive rock, modern jazz and electronica genres, and is characterized by a generally melancholy and sombre sound with matching artwork.
Psyclon Nine is an American band formed in 2000 in San Francisco, CA, known for their unique blend of electronic, industrial metal and black metal. Originally, Psyclon Nine's music was Terror EBM with melancholic Darkwave/Gothic atmospheres and Black Metal style vocals. However, the band has since evolved a more industrial/black metal sound.
James Joseph Woolley was an American keyboard and synthesizer player, best known for performing with industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails during the 1991 Lollapalooza Tour and the beginning part of the 1994 Self Destruct Tour. Woolley also appeared in the videos for "Wish" and "March of the Pigs", as well as parts of the Nine Inch Nails release Closure (1997). Woolley won a Grammy Award in 1993 for "Best Metal Performance" for "Wish".
Nine Inch Nails, an industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, has toured all over the world since its creation in 1988. While Reznor—the only official member until adding Atticus Ross in 2016—controls its creative and musical direction in the studio, the touring band performs different arrangements of the songs. In addition to regular concerts, the band has performed in both supporting and headlining roles at festivals such as Woodstock '94, Lollapalooza 1991 and 2008, and many other one-off performances including the MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to their 2013 tour, the band had played 938 gigs.
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