Inger Lorre

Infobox musical artist
Name = Inger Lorre


Img_capt = Inger Lorre Post-Nymphs era
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Lori Wenning
Alias =
Born = 1964

Died =
Origin = New Jersey
Instrument =
Genre = Alternative rock, glam punk, grunge
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter, Singer, Artist
Years_active = 1985-Present
Label = Geffen Records Sympathy for the Record Industry Triple X Records
Associated_acts = The Nymphs Inger Lorre and Motel Shootout Jeff Buckley Henry Rollins
URL = MySpace|ingerlorre
Notable_instruments =

Inger Lorre (b. 1964 Lori Wenning) is an American singer who is best known for her bands The Nymphs and Motel Shootout.

Early life

Inger Lorre grew up in and around New Jersey as she is often vague about anything that occurred in her life before relocating to Los Angeles, California in interviews. She told those closest to her that bad scenes and endless distractions marked her childhood. As a teenager, she hung out with older stoner kids, who gave her acid, cannabis and beer. This began a long and painful obsession and eventual addiction to drugs and alcohol. Lorre did an abbreviated stint studying art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, but ultimately school bored her. [Appleford, Steve. [http://www.glampunk.org/inger1.html "Take Two"] , "New Times Los Angeles", 1999]

Music career

The Nymphs

The Nymphs spent the mid-to-late 80's honing their craft in New Jersey, but soon decided to try to make it big in California. They hadn't been there more than a few months before only Inger and guitarist Jet were left, and replaced the other two with guitarist Sam Merrick, drummer Alex Kirst and bassist Cliff D. [ [http://www.hipmagazine.com/nymphs.htm "Interview with vocalist Inger Lorre"] "HIP" magazine, 1990]

As the Nymphs started performing around L.A., the band's outlandish and rebellious behavior attracted a cult following. They began to receive much critical and popular acclaim. The newfound success led the members, especially Lorre, into increasing alcohol and drug addiction.

I was around this time that Courtney Love began to devotedly attend Nymphs shows, even becoming friends with Lerre for a time. It wasn't long, though, before the two had a falling out. There are many explanations for this, such as Love seduction of Inger's then-boyfriend and her attempts to "copy" Lorre's outrageous onstage persona. [Borzillo, Carrie. [http://www.glampunk.org/inger5.html "Ex-Nymph Inger Lorre Pens Retort To Hole's Sassy"] , ALLSTAR, July 21, 1998] Whatever the reason, the dispute had an affect on Love, described Lorre in an interview as "fucking despicable" [ [http://homepage.mac.com/kia/magick/courtney.html *Strange Love* ] ] and used an angry answering machine message from Lorre in "Sassy" off of Hole's debut album Pretty on the Inside [Steininger, Alex. [http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/18r10.html "Inger Lorre: Transcendental Medication"] , In Music We Trust, Issue Eighteen, April 1999] .Although Lorre was becoming increasingly erratic, the Nymphs were starting to take off. The band's unique sound, a mixture of punk rock and goth, glam and grunge, and image began to attract the attention of major record labels. At the time, the band simply wanted to sign to an Indie label, as most grunge bands did before the 1991 success of Nirvana's Nevermind, but by 1989 the Nymphs were signed to Geffen Records with a nearly million-dollar recording contract. The band even made a brief appearance in the film Bad Influence performing "The Highway", a song Lorre wrote about the young girls who loved serial killer Richard Ramirez.

It was at about this time that the Nymphs began to have problems with their label. Almost 2 years had passed since the Nymphs had completed their album. Unfortunately, it was during those two years that the Nymphs' luck began to change. Tom Zutaut, who signed the band, discouraged them from playing shows. Then, in the midst of recording their debut, the producer was abruptly taken off the project. The reason: W. Axl Rose needed him. Lorre was losing her battle with drugs and alcohol and in an alcohol induced fit, Lorre urinated on the desk of A&R man Tom Zutaut. [Appleford, Steve. [http://www.glampunk.org/inger1.html "Take Two"] , "New Times Los Angeles", 1999.] When the news surfaced, tabloid magazines had a field day and ran features mocking Zutaut for getting a golden shower. "Rolling Stone"issue quipped, "Talk about being pissed at your record label.”

Even after what would be later referred to in certain circles as “pissed off-pissed on“, Lorre struggled to get Geffen to release her album. Eight months passed and Geffen finally issued the Nymphs’ album and even though they scored a tour with Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy, the worst was still yet to come. While Lorre was on tour, her longtime boyfriend, Chris Schlosshardt bassist of San Francisco band Sea Hags, died of a heroin overdose. Shortly afterwards, Lorre suffered a nervous breakdown and broke up The Nymphs in 1992. An EP called "The Practical Guide to Astral Projection" was released in 1992, but it failed to chart. [Pearson, Sarah Luck. [http://www.laweekly.com/music/music/inger-lorre-patron-saint-of-fucked-over-musicians/6743/ "Inger Lorre, Patron Saint of Fucked-over Musicians"] , "LA Weekly" feature, March 24, 1999.]

olo work

Continued heavy drug use eventually forced Lorre back to New Jersey, where she hid out for several years. A few spots here and there over time, where Lorre popped up in various places, never evolved into a Nymphs reunion or second album. In 1995, she teamed up with Motel Shootout and released the single "Burn," on old friend Long Gone John's label, Sympathy for the Record Industry. She entered rehab and worked toward permanent recovery.

She befriended singer Jeff Buckley and they began collaborating on music. Lorre's vocals are featured on "Angel Mine" while Jeff played guitar, sitar, and mouth sax on the track. Jeff and Lorre duetted again on the track "Thief Without The Take" contained on Lorre's album "Transcendental Medication". Buckley also covered "Yard of Blonde Girls" co-written by Lorre, which appeared on "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk". Sadly, at the height of his popularity, Buckley drowned during an evening swim on May 29, 1997, before the album's release. [cite newsgroup |title= Jeff Buckley (May 29th 1997) |author=Bill Schenley |date=May 29, 2005 |newsgroup=alt.obituaries |id=2Hcme.4459$[e-mail] |url=http://groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries/msg/2f5dfbc7ad684440?dmode=source&hl=en |accessdate=2008-01-08 ] Though saddened by her dear friend's death, in 1999 a clean and sober (and somewhat more sane) Lorre reemerged from New Jersey with her solo album, "Transcendental Medication" released on Triple X Records in 1999. The album featured cover artwork by Mark Ryden.

In 2000, Lorre moved back to Los Angeles, where she painted and appeared in group shows around the city including the world renowned art gallery La Luz de Jesus on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. She made a cameo appearance in the 2001 indie film "Down and Out with the Dolls", a raunchy, wry and in-your-face tale of the fast rise and fall of an all-girl, four-piece Portland rock band. She performed a cover of Black Flag's "Slip It In" with Henry Rollins on the 2002 album "".

On July 17, 2004, Lorre played an acoustic show at Hollywood's The Knitting Factory, performing Nymphs songs, new songs and some covers. In 2006, a version of The Nymphs popped up in a few places. Lorre is said to have been working on an autobiography and a new solo album for several years, but neither has reached fruition, and information is almost impossible to find.

On August 26, 2008, it was announced on Inger's MySpace blog that she would be playing another show at the Los Angeles Knitting Factory on November 13, 2008. [cite web | url=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=53152988 | title=Inger Lorre Live! | publisher=Inger MySpace Blog | date=2008-08-26 | accessdate=2008-08-27]

Discography

The Nymphs

* "The Nymphs" LP - 1991 Geffen 36,000
* "A Practical Guide To Astral Projection" EP - 1992 Geffen 5,000

Inger Lorre & the Motel Shootout

*"Burn" Single - 1994 Sympathy for the Record Industry

olo

* "Transcendental Medication" LP - 1999 Triple X 12,000

Guest Appearances

* Jeff Buckley, "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk" -1998
* "" - 2002

Filmography

*"Bad Influence" (1990)
*"Down and Out with the Dolls" (2003)

References

*imdb name|id=0521145|name=Inger Lorre

External links

*MySpace|ingerlorre|Inger Lorre
*MySpace|thenymphsrock|Nymphs
* [http://www.adequacy.net/interview.php?InterviewID=97 RECENT INTERVIEW-6/4/07]
* [http://www.the-plague.net/inger.htm IDK when Interview]