Trent Reznor (pictured right) is the man behind Nine Inch Nails. Born on the 15th of May 1965, he lived much of his life as an only child, having a much younger sister whom he was seperated from for most of his childhood. Following the divorce of his parents when he was 5 years old, he went to live with his grandparents in Mercer, Pennsylvania. His grandparents raised him strictly and religiously and forced him to play piano - intent on him becoming a professional pianist.
As a teenager, he was a loner who mostly stuck to himself. He was an outcast - labeled a faggot because sport and popularity played no important role in his life. Music was the thing he was passionate about. He was 13 when he learned how he could express himself through a musical instrument, the basis of which would form his career.
After enrolling in Allegheny where he majored in computer engineering, he decided that academics were not his strong point and consequently moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he shared a run-down flat with a close friend, Chris Vrenna. There, he lived the typical life of a struggling musician - playing in a variety of unsuccessful local bands and working small jobs, from sales at a music shop to cleaning toilets at a recording studio. He was inhibited by his lack of confidence in his ability to create his own music, and refrained from doing so at first because of his fear of failure. In 1988, his desire to create became stronger than his fear, so at the age of 23, he formed his own band and called himself Nine Inch Nails.
After sending a basic demo to a handful of record companies, one contacted him for a recording deal. After a preliminary contract was signed, he began work on his debut album, 'Pretty Hate Machine' in 1989. His first tracks came together while working in the studios late at night. Production assistance from Keith LeBlanc, Adrian Sherwood and Flood helped escalate his album to a million-seller.
People were terrified by the NIN set on their first tour. Band members (chosen more for their attitude rather than their ability) appeared caked in white paint and wrecked havoc upon the stage. The shows earned a bad reputation for being wild and out of control - but this was the result of Trent Reznor, a shy, introverted kid, being given the chance to vent his anger in public. The success of Pretty Hate Machine enabled them to finance the destruction of their sets. In 1991, they toured the U.K with Guns N' Roses, attracting many new followers, and in 1992, they stole the limelight from Jane's Addiction on the Lollapalooza tour, destroying large amounts of equipment and terrifying the audience.
All the touring sparked off critics, saying that Reznor was taking advantage of his fans by not releasing any new material. This, however, was so that he could avoid recording. His record company, TVT, had been limiting NIN, not giving Trent the creative freedom he needed and not allowing him to work on side projects. That is not to mention the fact that they had also been skimming money after the huge success of Pretty Hate Machine. When he looked into the record deal, Reznor discovered that the price of breaking free from his record company's constraints could be 2 years time and an excess of $3 million in legalities. Touring was the only way he could avoid recording for a company he detested, finance his legal action to attempt to break out of the contract, and to prevent fading out and being forgotten. The mental, emotional and physical exhaustion from the endless touring coupled with the difficult split from his long term girlfriend left Reznor on the verge of a nervous breakdown and he nearly comitted suicide.
'Broken' was recorded in secret, so as to avoid any problems with TVT. It was written and recorded from March to August 1992 and even Trent admitted that it was an ugly record, saying that it was made during an ugly time in his life. The recording itself was like a punch in the face - a quick, sudden, fast-moving burst of anger.
Shortly after Lollapalooza, Reznor came to meet Jimmy Iovine, a part-owner of Interscope Records. Iovine desperately wanted to sign NIN, but realised that the only way it would be possible to free Reznor from his recording company was to buy it - and this is exactly what he did. Broken was released, rapidly went platinum and won a Grammy. Things were finally looking up for Trent - Iovine helped him to set up his own label - Nothing Records - and there were no more creative restraints. There was a video made for Broken, but this was banned due to its violence by MTV, and it never hit the store shelves. Fans were disappointed by the fact that NIN wouldn't be touring for Broken, but Trent owed it to himself to have a break from all the stress he had recently undergone. Fixed, which contained remixes of the songs from Broken was released not too long after, and the band still didn't tour for the next 2 years.
For the creation of 'The Downward Spiral', Reznor moved into a beautiful new home overlooking the city of Los Angeles. It was only until after he had paid for it that he came to realise why people had been calling him insensitive - the house was the same house where the Charles Manson murders had been carried out 25 years earlier. For the recording of the album, Reznor spent weeks locked up in his studios - sometimes not emerging for weeks. He cut himself off from society, isolating himself to give him the clarity of mind he needed to achieve the grim result of The Downward Spiral. After overcoming his initial creative block, he completed two thirds of the album over the next 6 months. The success of The Downward Spiral was phenomenal, the L.A shows sold out in 20 minutes, Cleveland in 5, and Chicago (with 60, 00 tickets) in just 220 seconds. Despite the positive reaction to his album, Trent was still mortified to discover that The Downward Spiral was used a lot in strip clubs, and that many performers requested the songs for their acts.
Reznor took Robin Finck (guitarist), James Woolley (keyboarder), Chris Vrenna (drummer) and Danny Lohner (multi-instrumentalist) on tour for The Downward Spiral. The usual chaos erupted on tour, with James Woolley being hospitalised with a broken hand after Reznor hurled a keyboard at him (he still played the remaining 2 hours of the concert regardless though) and throwing an ex-record company boss out of the stadium whilst screaming madly at him. NIN also appeared at the Woodstock of '94, completely destroying any efforts to recreate the "peace and love" atmosphere of the 1969 hippie era with their venomous and vindictive set.
During this time, Trent was approached by Oliver Stone to view his film, Natural Born Killers, to request permission to use NIN material for the soundtrack. Reznor was so impressed that he ended up masterminding the album and releasing it through Nothing Records. He put the album together while touring, setting up makeshift studios in hotel rooms and spending his nights editing and remixing instead of partying. He also did a cover of Joy Division's 'Dead Souls' for 'The Crow' soundtrack. Both soundtracks were immensely popular, Natural Born Killers is said by some to be the best film soundtrack ever made. In 1995, NIN toured for 2 months with The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow (who also appeared in 'The X-Files') and Pop Will Eat Itself . These shows proved to be so popular that they sold out months in advance.
'Further Down The Spiral' is an album containing various remixes of the songs from The Downward Spiral. Reznor has also done various other production work on the 'Lost Highway' soundtrack (which contains the single 'The Perfect Drug') and has produced albums and singles for other artists like Marilyn Manson.
As rumour has it, there is a new NIN album in the works, and also a tour to follow its release, but as of yet this is unconfirmed, so we will just have to wait and see....
