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Chris Vrenna
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Chris Vrenna (born February 23 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, Grammy-winning producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna also played drums for the industrial/rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1989 until 1997.
he mid- to late-'80s Chris 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,, when they both were in local Cleveland, Ohio band the Exotic Birds.
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Encyclopedia
Chris Vrenna (born February 23 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, Grammy-winning producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna also played drums for the industrial/rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1989 until 1997.
Career
In the mid- to late-'80s Chris 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,, when they both were in local Cleveland, Ohio band the Exotic Birds. Also toured as a live drummer for KMFDM during the Money era tours, in 1992. He is currently recording under the name Tweaker, and has released two albums under that name, The Attraction To All Things Uncertain (2001) and 2am Wakeup Call (2004). Tweaker toured select North American dates with Skinny Puppy in 2004.
As producer, remixer, or engineer Vrenna has worked with God Lives Underwater, Rammstein, The Rasmus, U2, Weezer, P.O.D., David Bowie, Cold, underwater, Scarling., The Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Green Day, Live, Adema, the Wallflowers, TheStart, and Dir en grey. He has also worked with the underground 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 Doom 3 (as producer with Clint Walsh), Quake 4, American McGee's Alice (with additional vocals from Jessicka Jack Off Jill/Scarling.), 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 Gave Up, Wish, and March of the Pigs on the Nine Inch Nails video compilation Closure, and also makes a brief appearance in The Perfect Drug.
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. "I did for a couple weeks, but then decided I didn't want to join the band", said Vrenna.
Vrenna was chosen to take over the drumming responsibilities for Marilyn Manson after Ginger Fish was injured in 2004. He is currently the live keyboardist for Marilyn Manson. He took over as keyboardist after Madonna Wayne Gacy was released.
Recently, Vrenna performed drums on Saturday Night Live with Gnarls Barkley (April 12, 2008) which was his last performance with Gnarls for the time being. He will continue working with Marilyn Manson (the band) at a role that will be disclosed at a later time. It is currently unknown if he will stay a permanent member. However, Manson stated on an interview on the Heirophant entitled 'Everyone Will Suffer Now' that he hopes Vrenna will become a more permanent part of the band and that he plans to work with him in the future. Manson went on to say that he dislikes the fact that people consider Vrenna to be a temporary band member, implying that Vrenna will have a more permanent role in the future, presumably replacing Madonna Wayne Gacy/Pogo as keyboardist. Manson also said on the interview that if Ginger Fish had not returned to the band after his injury, Vrenna would have most likely replaced him as the permanent drummer, and that Vrenna was the first person he thought of to replace Pogo.
Recently on an interview on All Access, Vrenna confirmed that he is indeed working with Marilyn Manson on his seventh studio album. He did not specifically state that he would be playing the keyboards, but confirmed that he will be involved in writing and producing the album, as well as contributing to the music and programming.
Personal life
Vrenna lives in Los Angeles with his wife Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna, a writer.
External links
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