Producer/
drummer/
programmer Chris
Vrenna, whose
credits include
Nine Inch Nails,
Smashing Pumpkins,
Marilyn Manson, and Metallica, has his plate full
these days. Not only has he just been tapped to
produce the female cello- playing act Rasputina, but
he's also contributing to the Witchblade compilation
for DreamWorks (see our story on this page), the
forthcoming Skinny Puppy remix album, and fine- tuning
his own band, Tweaker.
"There are so many things out there to do and I
want to do them all, and the worst thing is that I
actually have the opportunity to do them," says the
Los Angeles- based Vrenna. "I like producing, it's
fun. That's a dumb word, huh? But it is."
First on Vrenna's to-do list is the next Rasputina
album, which is not yet titled or put on Columbia's
1998 release schedule, but it most likely will not be
released before March. Vrenna will produce and
contribute his programming and drumming prowess on the
album, for which he'll begin pre-production in his
home studio in Los Feliz, California in a week. The
songs will be tracked in December and hopefully
completed by mid-January in studios in L.A. and
Chicago, although the studios haven't been firmed up
yet, according to Vrenna.
So what does he plan to do with the cellists?
"Well, Melora really liked the remixes she had done
before [by Marilyn Manson]," says Vrenna, "and she
liked working on the computer with the way it allows
for experimentantion. So for this record, we're going
to expound on the cellos and a lot of drum kit and
programming. The songs will have more of a mood to
them. We want to really concentrate on songs, making
really good, concise songs." So it will be more
accessible? "Yeah, that's what we're going for."
As for special guests on Rasputina's new album,
anything is possible. The Marilyn Manson gang is in
L.A. and has worked with Vrenna and Rasputina before.
"Who knows, maybe some of the boys will come by," says
Vrenna. Critter, whose credits includes Filter, Jesus
Lizard, and Ministry, is recording and mixing the
Rasputina album.
Vrenna's other upcoming projects include
collaborating with Babes in Toyland's Kat Bjelland on
approximately six tracks for the album inspired by the
comic book Witchblade, which is due on DreamWorks in
1998. He's also remixing a Skinny Puppy song for the
remix album due on Nettwerk in 1998. There's no title,
release date, or track listing available yet for the
Skinny Puppy project.
"Being an industrial kid of the '80s, there are
only two bands to idolize -- Ministry and Skinny
Puppy," he says, "so to be able to remix one of the
those two bands is really exciting." Vrenna is also
remixing songs by Strictly Ballroom, Scanner, and
Reservoir.
Looking to 1998, Vrenna says he wants to
concentrate on his own outfit, Tweaker, which has
turned the heads of many A&R folk lately. However,
Vrenna says Tweaker is not quite ready to be signed.
"I've been doing all this production crap and remixing
that's been keeping me busy, that I'm still putting
Tweaker together to a point where I want to have it
signed. It's not a full band yet."