Ex-NIN Drummer CHRIS VRENNA Talks About Touring With MARILYN MANSON

Sickamongthepure.com recently conducted an interview with former NINE INCH NAILS drummer Chris Vrenna who has filled in for Ginger Fish on drums throughout MARILYN MANSON's 2004/2005 Against All Gods tour. Several questions were asked pertaining to Vrenna's involvement with MANSON during the tour:

Sickamongthepure.com: Tell us about your recent tour with MARILYN MANSON.

Chris Vrenna: "I actually was playing drums for MANSON's Against All Gods that was just this past fall. Ginger [Fish] fell in Germany just a couple weeks before the tour was to start, so MANSON called me and asked if I'd fill in. I, of course, said sure. We had a great tour."

Sickamongthepure.com: What happened to Ginger exactly and how long is he out of commission for?

Chris Vrenna: "MANSON was performing on a German TV awards show. They were on a stage that elevated over 20 feet as they played. Apparently after the song ended, Ginger slipped or stepped backwards and fell off the stage all the way to the floor. He broke his wrist and some facial bones, as well as suffered a bad concussion. This was all only a couple weeks before the U.S. tour was to start and they couldn’t cancel the tour. He’s doing much better now."

Sickamongthepure.com: Describe how it feels to be just part of the band again, in this case, as opposed to the pressure you must feel when it's YOUR band on tour and the pressure is squarely on you.

Chris Vrenna: "It's great! I can concentrate on my job of playing and performing well. It's still a lot of hard work though. We were doing a 1:45 set so it's really physical. I still love the idea of a band where everyone is important and has a role. Bands are special relationships."

Sickamongthepure.com: How much interaction with the fans was there on the tour? Did many people recognize you for who you were and are in your past and current musical lives?

Chris Vrenna: "There wasn't a lot of fan interaction on tour with MANSON. A few fans here and there did know me for me though and I always made time to talk with them."

Sickamongthepure.com: Is MARILYN MANSON really as outrageous backstage as we're lead to believe, or was he settling down to a good meal and a bottle of wine more often than not?

Chris Vrenna: "[laughs] What happens backstage stays backstage. I will say that they are who they are all the time. That's why they're so great. There's no acting involved."

Sickamongthepure.com: Well, tell us about one experience on the MANSON stint that will not soon leave your memory banks.

Chris Vrenna: "Getting to see Korea and Japan for the first time. I had never been there and had always wanted to go. The fans over there are just so different than the fans in the U.S. They're sweeter and more polite. We had a chance to meet a lot of people and it was just really interesting. I also got to do some fun sightseeing things like visit a Buddhist temple in Seoul, go to the Osaka Castle, and climb to the top of a pyramid in Mexico."

Click here to read the entire interview.

(Thanks: MansonUSA.com)