Changes

| years = 1988-1990, 1992-19971996

Vrenna grew up in Erie, PA. He first met Reznor in nearby MercerMeadville, PA, in 1985, when a mutual friend introduced them so that Vrenna could buy Reznor's LinnDrum, and they became instant friends. [https://www.youtube.com/live/bkR4ydeTtJM?si=WUosjdll91RgYlkb&t=1269] In late 1986, Vrenna was attending Kent State University, south of Cleveland, when Reznor asked him to come up and audition to be the [[Exotic Birds]]' new drummer after Tom Freer quit.[https://www.al.com/life-and-culture/erry-2018/10/2b578ecb8a5013/why-is-nine-inch-nails-marilyn.html] He joined the band and became roommates with Reznor. Vrenna has been credited as an engineer for ''[[Pretty Hate Machine]]'' and ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]'', as well as playing live drums on the latter. He can be seen in the [[Nine Inch Nails music videos|music videos]] for "[[Down In It (song)|Down In It]]", "[[Head Like A Hole (song)|Head Like A Hole]]", "[[Wish (song)|Wish]]", "[[Gave Up]]", "[[March Of The Pigs (song)|March Of The Pigs]]", "[[Hurt (song)|Hurt]]" (live), "[[Eraser]]" (live), "Wish" (live) and "[[The Perfect Drug (song)|The Perfect Drug]]". During his time with NIN, he had the nickname Podboy.

While it was reported that After the end of the [[Hate Tour]] in 1990, Vrenna had a falling out with Reznor and left the NIN camp at the end of 1996band. He moved to Chicago, and did an album and tour with Die Warzau. He then toured with KMFDM for their Money tour. Then he was actually still involvedhelped drum on Stabbing Westward's demos, helping them sign a record deal with [[Columbia Records]]. Although Stabbing Westward wanted Vrenna to some degreejoin on a permanent basis, Vrenna had started joining Reznor and [[Flood]] at Royal Recorders studio in nearby Lake Geneva, as late as Wisconsin, for the first quarter of 1997. ''[[https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.nin/c/5n9h0fHlFUY/m/_Q48YM4nS1cJBroken][https://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/display/644] His leaving was largely due to being surrounded by addiction issues and feeling the need to branch out creatively'' recording sessions.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkR4ydeTtJMFqCqOSQO0nU] Following his departure, This marked their reconciliation and Vrenna formed rejoining the band . Vrenna moved to California in 1992 to help finish the ''Broken'' recording sessions at [[TweakerLe Pig|Pig]]. The band has three full-length albums entitled and work on ''The Attraction to All Things UncertainDownward Spiral'', recording sessions. Vrenna has been credited as an engineer for ''2 A.M. Wakeup Call[[Pretty Hate Machine]]'' and ''Call [[The Time Eternity''. Vrenna's inspiration is derived mainly from surreal paintings and dreams. Downward Spiral (halo)|The inspiration for Downward Spiral]]''2 A.M. Wakeup Call'' came from his wife. She had trouble sleeping and would wake up each night at exactly 2 A.M. This gave Vrenna , as well as playing live drums on the idea for the albumlatter. He compiled several artists together can be seen in the [[Nine Inch Nails music videos|music videos]] for the album and told them that it would be based off of dreams and feelings that occur at night time. "[[Down In It (song)|Down In It]]", "[[wp:Robert Smith Head Like A Hole (musiciansong)|Robert SmithHead Like A Hole]] contributed to this album. Vrenna has also scored several video games ", "[[Wish (including ''American McGee's Alice''song)|Wish]]", "[[Gave Up]]", ''DOOM 3''"[[March Of The Pigs (song)|March Of The Pigs]]", and ''Quake 4''"[[Hurt (song) and has remixed several artists |Hurt]]" (including U2live), "[[Skinny PuppyEraser]]" (live), "Wish" (live) and "[[Andy KubiszewskiThe Perfect Drug (song)|The Perfect Drug]] project Discothèque)". During his time with NIN, he had the nickname Podboy. Vrenna left the NIN camp at the end of 1996. [https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.nin/c/LMewZoCDAVE/m/1FIrSLNI4DIJ]

Following his departure, Vrenna formed the band [[Tweaker]]. The band has three full-length albums entitled ''The Attraction to All Things Uncertain'', ''2 A.M. Wakeup Call'' and ''Call The Time Eternity''. Vrenna's inspiration is derived mainly from surreal paintings and dreams. The inspiration for ''2 A.M. Wakeup Call'' came from his wife. She had trouble sleeping and would wake up each night at exactly 2 A.M. This gave Vrenna the idea for the album. He compiled several artists together for the album and told them that it would be based off of dreams and feelings that occur at night time. [[wp:Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]] contributed to this album. Vrenna has also scored several video games (including ''American McGee's Alice'', ''[[Use in Video Games#Doom 3|Doom 3]]'', and ''Quake 4'') and has remixed several artists (including U2, [[Skinny Puppy]], and [[Andy Kubiszewski]] project Discothèque). Vrenna has toured, both as Tweaker and as a touring musician for various bands. In 2004, Tweaker opened for Skinny Puppy. In 2006, he was a touring drummer for Gnarls Barkley, even wearing the original Chewbacca costume for the group's ''Star Wars''-themed performance at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. He also toured with the former [[Nothing Records]] -signed band, [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]] from 2007 to 2011, as a drummer and later a keyboardist. His career as a live/touring drummer ended after having torn his rotator cuff twice. He later became a music educator at Southern Utah University, Athens State University, Calhoun College, University of Alabama, and the Madison Media Institute. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in the Department of Performing Arts Technology.[https://smtd.umich.edu/chris-vrenna-to-join-the-department-of-performing-arts-technology/]