CHRIS VRENNA

Basic Information:

Born: Chris Vrenna
Instrument (s): Keyboards
D.O.B: February 23, 1967
Birth Place: Erie, Pennsylvania
Name Origin: Not applicable

EARLY YEARS

Chris Vrenna has been a long term contributor to Marilyn Manson, both behind the scenes and in his current role as album songwriter and onstage keyboardist/programmer. His musical career started in Chicago, during the 1980s, where he played with already established bands such as Stabbing Westward.

Despite Manson’s dalliance with Industrial Metal being fused with a variety of other genres, Vrenna’s teeth were always cut with the genre, as many of the acts he has been associated with find their basis in electronica, programmed beats and digital soundscapes, mixed with crushing, Industrial guitars. That said, Vrenna has equally proved himself as a live drummer, even replacing regular Manson drummer Ginger Fish when Fish was unable to play due to injuries.

Vrenna was previously most well known for his time playing with Nine Inch Nails, having known frontman Trent Reznor since the two attended the same High School. Association with familiar faces has helped secure Vrenna’s general musical perception as a competent, inventive figure, his talents having been employed with or alongside artists cited as contemporaries of Marilyn Manson, such as KMFDM, the aforementioned Nine Inch Nails, and Skinny Puppy.

Initially, Vrenna was a replacement for long term keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, who left Marilyn Manson following a legal dispute. Becoming a recognisable fixture on the live stage throughout the band’s 2007/2008 world tour, The Rape of the World, Vrenna has since become a fully established member of the band, commenting on his role as contributor for the band’s 2009 album, The High End of Low during interviews preceding its release.

Though still a touring and writing member of Marilyn Manson, Vrenna also conducts his personal project, Tweaker, an electronic based partnership between he and Clint Walsh, who have produced critically acclaimed soundtrack work for various computer games and television shows.

Vrenna lives with his wife, Carrie Borzillo Vrenna, a published author, in their Los Angeles home.