Tweaker

When <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Chris Vrenna</a> left <a href="spotify:artist:0hRijdwO8UsJMudc3476ma">Trent Reznor</a>'s influential industrial/alternative rock powerhouse <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a> in 1996, it certainly wasn't the end of the line for the drummer/producer/songwriter -- far from it. <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> kept busy with a variety of musical activities. In addition to producing or co-producing various artists (including <a href="spotify:artist:2VYQTNDsvvKN9wmU5W7xpj">Marilyn Manson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4DeF1n7pWrs52PhWd2sEyr">Rasputina</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4tujQJicOnuZRLiBFdp3Ou">Xzibit</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1574D7YVuOA1LtFdY6bx3i">Red Delicious</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3O3qPC1hmSp7442HYefx5w">Lords of Acid</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0Gw3a3BkWLwsMLFbOBmo6Q">Cold</a>) and providing remixes for <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2jw70GZXlAI8QzWeY2bgRc">Nelly Furtado</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3jOstUTkEu2JkjvRdBA5Gu">Weezer</a> (among others), <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> got into soundtracks. In 2001, for example, <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> composed the dark, eerie instrumental soundtrack of American McGee's Alice, a video game that is based on Alice in Wonderland. And it was also in 2001 that <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> unveiled his Tweaker project. Best described as a blend of alternative pop/rock and electronica, Tweaker was inevitably compared to <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a>'s former band, <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a> -- as many years as <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> spent in <a href="spotify:artist:0hRijdwO8UsJMudc3476ma">Reznor</a>'s employ (eight, to be exact), people were bound to point out the similarities between Tweaker and <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a>. And, to be sure, many of the adjectives that have been used to describe <a href="spotify:artist:0hRijdwO8UsJMudc3476ma">Reznor</a>'s band have also been used to describe Tweaker -- adjectives like dark, moody, eerie, and shadowy. Like <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a>, Tweaker is aggressive yet melodic and very musical; <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a> was never the sort of industrial band that lived on brute force alone. But <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> is his own man, and Tweaker is far from a carbon copy of <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a>. While <a href="spotify:artist:0hRijdwO8UsJMudc3476ma">Reznor</a>'s outfit is industrial-oriented, Tweaker's alternative pop/rock/electronica blend isn't industrial per se (although <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> does incorporate elements of both industrial and goth rock). If <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a> has inevitably influenced Tweaker, so have a variety of other artists (who range from <a href="spotify:artist:0oSGxfWSnnOXhD2fKuz2Gy">David Bowie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo">Roxy Music</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:2VYQTNDsvvKN9wmU5W7xpj">Marilyn Manson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5daXMUbrPh8oX9Nd4CnToG">Stabbing Westward</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:762310PdDnwsDxAQxzQkfX">Depeche Mode</a>). Even some of <a href="spotify:artist:51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ">U2</a>'s post-‘80s work has had a bit of an influence on Tweaker.

<a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> wore many different hats when, in 2001, he recorded Tweaker's The Attraction to All Things Uncertain for the San Francisco-based <a href="spotify:artist:4RBfru47kvSm8mDYRaIMqD">Six Degrees</a> label. In addition to producing most of the album, he was among the engineers and did most of the writing. It would almost be safe to describe Tweaker as a one-man band -- <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> was certainly in the driver's seat on The Attraction to All Things Uncertain. However, he did enlist the help of a few others, including violinist <a href="spotify:artist:1hO7u836ntSuPofTfvjzr6">Petra Haden</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3PP5Hnii2zI9Ufm7jFkers">Shudder to Think</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:4GPehFTPUP3j8J8ULlpqWh">Craig Wedren</a>, and various guitarists. Reflecting <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a>'s interest in abstract art, the album's title was inspired by a Joe Sorren painting called "Elliot's Attraction to All Things Uncertain". In fact, the conceptual material that <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> wrote or co-wrote for Tweaker's album was mindful of Elliot, the bookish, likable nerdy character in Sorren's painting. <a href="spotify:artist:4RBfru47kvSm8mDYRaIMqD">Six Degrees</a> released The Attraction to All Things Uncertain in September 2001.

2002 was mostly dedicated to other projects, but in January of 2003, <a href="spotify:artist:2Kw2smJMCoi6mk6KbscZG1">Vrenna</a> signed a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Waxploitation%22">Waxploitation</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22iMUSIC%22">iMUSIC</a> to release the next Tweaker album. He stepped back into the studio around the same time to work on new material, and set up an in-progress page on his website to keep fans updated on the latest developments for Tweaker. . ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi