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HEADBANGER'S BALL
Tweaker Frontman Chris Vrenna Sounds Off on Scoring Tabula Rasa
With each passing day, Grammy-winning producer and former Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna devotes less of his time to the recording industry and more to interactive entertainment.
Not that we fault the burgeoning mixmaster/songwriter, who's created sound effects, music and theme tunes for a choice selection of titles ranging from Area 51 to Doom 3, Quake 4, and American McGee's Alice. Like, seriously - who wouldn't rather hang out with a bunch of griefers and guys like Leeroy Jenkins on a Saturday night than well-known colleagues such as U2, The Smashing Pumpkins and Rob Zombie?
Even a gig circa 2004 touring the world with Mr. Freek-a-Leek himself, Marilyn Manson, in support of greatest hits album "Lest We Forget," couldn't sway the one-man band otherwise known as Tweaker. Shortly thereafter, he hooked up with an artist who's had an even more profound - if no less, uh. positive - influence on today's youth: Richard "Lord British" Garriott himself. Laugh if you must at the odd pairing, but remember. we're talking about a guy who's not exactly short on opportunity. After all, Vrenna once looked Axl "Damn, those Dreadlocks are Ugly" Rose dead in the eye and said no to joining Guns N' Roses.
Granted, we'd rather he asked the fat hermit if long-overdue album "Chinese Democracy" was coming out sometime this century. Still, with Vrenna currently hammering away on the audio for massively multiplayer sci-fi blaster Tabula Rasa, we can't complain too much. In yet another world-first LQGaming Services: exclusive, we get the slap-happy performers' thoughts on the rock-n-roll lifestyle, men in tights and NCSoft's twisted thirst for human depravity:
LQGaming Services:: Perhaps you can tell us: Just how hard can an MMO really rock?
Chris Vrenna: Hahaha.... funny. We all love to hang with our buds and play games or blow shit up. MMOs allow you to do that even if you live thousands of miles apart. It's also just fun to meet new like-minded people. As games get even more Internet-based, I think the idea will grow.
"I prefer to keep it real. Songs shouldn't draw all the attention in MMOs - they're there to enhance the overall vibe without [detracting from] the game itself."
LQGaming Services:: No offense, but we can't say we really remember that much about any massively multiplayer title's soundtrack. Is music really all that important to the experience?
Chris Vrenna: Well, maybe not quite so much thus far. But I love videogame music and think it's always important and can add a whole better experience to a game, regardless of that game's genre.
LQGaming Services:: What can a great audio library bring to a title like Tabula Rasa? And just how high do you have to be to truly appreciate it?
Chris Vrenna: Hahahaha....I'm not a smoker, so I can't answer that part of your question. But Tabula Rasa is more than just a MMO and I think the music adds more emotion and vibe throughout.
LQGaming Services:: Think this'll be the opportunity that finally helps you make it big? Seriously, it's not like anyone's heard of Nine Inch Nails...
Chris Vrenna: Yeah, well....I've already been fortunate enough to have scored American McGee's Alice, Area 51 and did the theme songs for Doom III and Quake 4. So far, I think I'm doing OK.
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