Trent Reznor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor in concert, in 2006
Trent Reznor in concert, in 2006
Background information
Birth name Michael Trent Reznor
Born May 17, 1965
Origin Mercer, Pennsylvania
Genre(s) Alternative metal, Industrial metal, Industrial music
Occupation(s) Musician
Instrument(s) Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars
Years active 1982 - present
Label(s) Nothing
Associated
acts		 Option 30 (1982-1984)
The Urge (Erie, PA) (1984-1985)
The Innocent (1985)
Exotic Birds (1986-1988)
Lucky Pierre (1988)
Nine Inch Nails (since 1988)

Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Reznor is the founder and primary creative force behind the band Nine Inch Nails.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Michael Trent Reznor was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland to Michael J. Reznor and Nancy Clark. Reznor was called by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father. After his parents divorced, Trent lived with his grandparents and his sister Tera lived with their mother.[1].

Reznor began playing the piano at the age of five and showed an early aptitude for music. In a 1995 interview, his grandfather Bill Clark remarked, "Music was his life, from the time he was a wee boy. He was so gifted." [2] His former piano teacher Rita Beglin said Reznor "always reminded me of Harry Connick, Jr." when he played.

Reznor has repeatedly acknowledged that his sheltered life in Pennsylvania left him feeling somewhat isolated from the outside world. In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, he makes reference to his choices in the music industry, "I don't know why I want to do these things," Reznor says, "other than my desire to escape from Small Town, U.S.A., to dismiss the boundaries, to explore. It isn't a bad place where I grew up, but there was nothing going on but the cornfields. My life experience came from watching movies, watching TV and reading books and looking at magazines. And when your fucking culture comes from watching TV every day, you're bombarded with images of things that seem cool, places that seem interesting, people who have jobs and careers and opportunities. None of that happened where I was. You're almost taught to realize it's not for you." [3] However, Reznor later confesses, "I don't want to give the impression it was a miserable childhood." [4]

At the Mercer Area Junior and Senior High Schools, Reznor learned to play the saxophone and tuba. He was a member of both the jazz and marching bands. Former Mercer High School band director Dr. Hendley Hoge remembered Reznor as "very upbeat and friendly." [5] Reznor also became involved in theatre while in high school. He was voted Best in Drama by classmates for his roles as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and Professor Harold Hill in the Music Man.

Option 30 album cover with Reznor on the far right
Enlarge
Option 30 album cover with Reznor on the far right

Reznor graduated from high school in 1983 and enrolled at Allegheny College, where he studied computer engineering, joined a local band named Option 30 and played three shows per week with them. After a year in college, Reznor decided to drop out to pursue a full-time career in music.

Reznor moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1985, he joined a band named The Innocent as a keyboardist. They released one album, Livin' in the Street, but Reznor quit after just three months. In 1986, Reznor appeared as a member of the fictional band The Problems in the film Light of Day.[6] He also joined a local Cleveland band called the Exotic Birds.

He got a job at Right Track Studio (now known as Midtown Recording) as a handyman. Studio owner Bart Koster commented how Reznor "is so focused in everything he does. When that guy waxed the floor, it looked great." [7] Koster allowed Reznor to use the studio during off hours, which he used to record demos for songs that ended up on Nine Inch Nails' first album, Pretty Hate Machine. These demos were later released as a bootleg under the name Purest Feeling.

Trent Reznor (right) and Marilyn Manson at a 2000 concert
Enlarge
Trent Reznor (right) and Marilyn Manson at a 2000 concert

Reznor was the credited producer for Marilyn Manson's albums Portrait of an American Family (1994), Smells Like Children (1995), and Antichrist Superstar (1996), as well as the soundtrack for the films Natural Born Killers and Lost Highway. Reznor is credited for "Driver Down" and "Videodrones; Questions" on the soundtrack for Lost Highway. One other track, "The Perfect Drug" is credited to Nine Inch Nails instead.

Reznor likes video games, most notably Doom by id Software, which he has said he played on the Nine Inch Nails tour bus after doing shows. He also created the soundtrack for ID Software's hit Quake. The NIN logo also appears on the nail gun ammo boxes in Quake and prior to this, embedded in both the floor and ceiling of a secret room in Ultimate Doom.

Trent returned to work with id Software in 2003 as the sound engineer for video game Doom 3. However, due to "time, money and bad management" [8], he had to abandon this project, and his audio work did not make it into the game's release. The original audio files can be found on the Internet, although they are not officially endorsed by Reznor nor id Software. Chris Vrenna, former drummer for Nine Inch Nails, produced the music for Doom 3 with his partner Clint Walsh.

Trent Reznor produces music with Saul Williams in March of 2006
Enlarge
Trent Reznor produces music with Saul Williams in March of 2006

During the five years between his albums The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), Trent Reznor struggled with depression, social anxiety disorder, writer's block, and the death of his grandmother. It has also been revealed by Reznor that he had been suffering from alcohol and drug addiction during the Fragile era. In a 2005 interview with Kerrang!, Reznor makes a note of his self-destructive past, "There was a persona that had run its course. I needed to get my priorities straight, my head screwed on. Instead of always working, I took a couple of years off, just to figure out who I was and working out if I wanted to keep doing this or not. I had become a terrible addict; I needed to get my shit together, figure out what had happened." [9] In contrast with his former suicidal tendencies [10], the song artist admitted in a 2005 interview with Revolver that, "I’m pretty happy right now." But added, "Wait! Don’t print that! You’ll ruin my reputation. At least lie and say that I’ve got a dead body in my closet or something." [11]

Reznor was involved in a feud with the band Limp Bizkit (specifically their frontman Fred Durst) in the late 1990s, around the height of their popularity, calling Durst a "moron" and saying in a 1999 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, "Let Fred Durst surf a piece of plywood up my ass." [12] It is noted, however, that Reznor is credited as a writer of the song "Hot Dog" on Bizkit's album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. This is due to this song's use of lyrics from the NIN song "Closer," in particular the phrase "I want to fuck you like an animal." Reznor was put in the difficult position of having to give permission for his own lyrics to be used in a song mocking him but interviews at the time suggested that he thought it was best to allow permission rather than drag the issue out." [13]

Tapeworm, a collaboration with Danny Lohner, Maynard James Keenan of Tool, and Atticus Ross of 12 Rounds, was in production for almost ten years, but an update on the official Nine Inch Nails website declared that the project had been terminated. The only known performance of any Tapeworm material was when Keenan's other band A Perfect Circle performed the song "Vacant" on tour in 2001. "Vacant" appears on A Perfect Circle's third album eMOTIVe, reworked and retitled "Passive".

Reznor will make a guest appearance on rapper El-P's next album, I'll Sleep When You're Dead [14], on the track "Flyentology" [15]. El-P remixed the NIN track "Only", released with the single "Every Day Is Exactly the Same". Reznor has also been confirmed as the co-producer of the next album by Saul Williams, who toured with NIN in 2005 and 2006 [16].

Reznor is reportedly in the studio working on the follow up album to 2005's With Teeth, which is due for release sometime in 2007. [17]. A DVD taken from two "Live: With Teeth" tour dates on March 28 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and March 30 in El Paso, Texas entitled Beside You In Time is scheduled for a US release date of February 27, 2007 on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray formats (no international dates yet announced). A teaser trailer was released via his official website on September 23rd, 2006. [18]

[edit] Discography

This is a list of musical work credited to Trent Reznor. For work credited to Nine Inch Nails, see Nine Inch Nails discography.

[edit] Writing and performance

  • Sound effects and music for Quake (1996). Credited to Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails
  • "Videodrones; Questions" appears on Lost Highway soundtrack (1997)
  • "Driver Down" appears on Lost Highway soundtrack (1997)

[edit] Featuring

[edit] Guitar

[edit] Mellotron

[edit] Mixing

[edit] Piano

[edit] Producer

[edit] Programming

  • Antichrist Superstar (Marilyn Manson, 1996)
  • Cautiøn Dø Nøt Play (Crunch-O-Matic, 1991)[19]

[edit] Remixes

For remixes credited to Nine Inch Nails, see Nine Inch Nails discography: Remixes.
  • "Burnt Offering" for Machines of Loving Grace, appears on "Burn Like Brilliant Trash (At Jackie's Funeral)" (1992)
  • "Burn Like Brilliant Trash (Dub 120 BPM)" for Machines of Loving Grace, appears on "Burn Like Brilliant Trash (At Jackie's Funeral)" (1992)
  • "Symphony of Destruction (The Gristle Mix)" for Megadeth, appears on "Foreclosure of a Dream" (1992)
  • "Stone Cold Crazy (Re-produced by Trent Reznor)" for Queen, appears on "Stone Cold Crazy" (promo) (1992)
  • "Tie Your Mother Down (Reznor Remix)" for Queen, never officially released, first appeared as part of a mix tape reportedly received from Trent Reznor at a party in 1992 or 1993
  • "Missing Link (Screaming Bird Mix)" for Curve, appears on Blackerthreetrackertwo (1993)
  • "Who Was In My Room Last Night (Trent Reznor Remix)" for Butthole Surfers, appears on "The Wooden Song" (1993)
  • "Mother Inferior Got Her Gunn (Trent Reznor Remix)" for Marilyn Manson, appears on "Get Your Gunn" (1994)
  • "The Heart's Filthy Lesson (Alt Mix)" for David Bowie, appears on "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" (1995)
  • "I'm Afraid of Americans (V1, V2, V3, V4 & V6 Mixes)" for David Bowie, appear on "I'm Afraid of Americans" (1997)
  • "Pleasant Smell (Rethought by Trent Reznor, Keith Hillebrandt and Clint Mansell)" for 12 Rounds, appears on "Pleasant Smell" (1998)
  • "Lapdance (Trent Reznor Remix)" for N*E*R*D, appears on "Spin This" (compilation) (2001)
  • "Growing Up (Trent Reznor Remix)" for Peter Gabriel, appears on "Growing Up" (2003)
  • "Vertigo (Trent Reznor Remix)" for U2, appears on "Vertigo (remix) (promo)" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" (2005)

[edit] Saxophone

[edit] Vocals

[edit] Trivia

  • In the interview after their Woodstock '94 performance, despite Nine Inch Nails having the largest crowd density at the event (overshadowing Metallica) Reznor claimed he thought it was a horrible performance.
  • Reznor enjoyed science fiction as a child, particularly the television show The Six Million Dollar Man. Later in life, he used the Six Million Dollar Man's name, "Steve Austin," as an assumed name when travelling [21].
  • Reznor has been linked to singer-songwriter Tori Amos, especially by their online fan communities. Reznor stated that her album Little Earthquakes, which included the lyric "demigods with their nine inch nails," was a fixture in his car CD player. He later provided guest vocals on the song "Past the Mission" for Amos's Under the Pink. She gave interviews expressing their shared experience of wanting to jump out of a hotel window, and stated that The Downward Spiral was one of her favorite albums. Reznor said in a 1996 interview, "We're not that close now. Some malicious meddling on the part of Courtney Love."[1]
  • Despite Courtney Love saying "Nine Inch Nails, huh-more like Three Inch Nails," Reznor claimed they did not have sexual relations.[2] She was one of many artists parodied in the video for Starfuckers, Inc.
  • Reznor is an admitted addict to the id Software first-person shooter Doom, and cites his addiction as being the cause of some delays between albums. The sequel to the Doom series, Quake, features a 'Nail Gun', with ammunition boxes displaying the Nine Inch Nails "NIN" logo, in tribute to Reznor's support of the game.
  • Reznor is in possession of John Lennon's Mellotron, which he has used on Broken, The Fragile, and Marilyn Manson's 2nd full-length studio album, Antichrist Superstar. This specific mellotron is best known for its use in the intro of The Beatles classic song Strawberry Fields Forever - as explained by Paul McCartney in The Beatles Anthology.
  • Trent is 5'6" (~168 centimeters) tall.
  • While writing The Downward Spiral, Reznor lived in the Tate mansion where the Manson family murders took place. After he moved out, and it was demolished, he went back and took the door as a souvenir. It became the front door to Nothing Studios in New Orleans.
  • Reznor is a big fan of David Bowie, and one of his favourite David Bowie albums is Low from 1977. He has stated in interviews that he played it constantly during the recording of The Downward Spiral, for inspiration. However, he occasionally cites Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) as his favorite, and has performed the title track live with Bowie during Bowie's Outside Tour in 1995.
  • During the process of making Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar, Manson described Reznor as "the brother I never had," according to his autobiography, The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell.
  • Reznor was to produce a song on Aaliyah's eponymous album, but nothing had come of it when the singer died in a plane crash. [22]
  • In January of 2006, Reznor filmed a public service announcement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [23].
  • In April of 2006 on The Spiral Fanclub message board, Trent Reznor posted that he officially ended his struggle with drugs and alcohol on June 11th, 2001.
  • Trent is a direct descendant of George Reznor, founder of the Reznor Company (founded 1888), a heating and air conditioning company. Although the family sold the business in the 1960s, Reznor equipment is still manufactured in Trent's hometown of Mercer, Pennsylvania. [3]
  • In November of 2006, fans and animal lovers voted Trent #1 in peta2's first-ever Libby Awards as the "Best New Fur Foe."
  • Trent was born one day before fellow industrial musician Christopher Hall (formerly of Stabbing Westward).
  • The character 'Trevor Reznik' from The Machinist was likely a nod to Trent.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ An Interview With Trent Reznor. Spin (March 1996). Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  2. ^ Heath, Chris. The Art of Darkness. Details (April 1995). Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  3. ^ Reznor Heating Corporate Website FAQ

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor
Aaron North | Jeordie White | Alessandro Cortini | Josh Freese
Richard Patrick | Jeff Ward | Chris Vrenna | James Woolley | Robin Finck | Danny Lohner | Charlie Clouser | Jerome Dillon | Alex Carapetis
Discography
Major Releases: Pretty Hate Machine | Broken | Fixed | The Downward Spiral | Further Down the Spiral | Closure | The Fragile | Things Falling Apart | And All that Could Have Been | With Teeth | Beside You in Time
Singles: "Down in It" | "Head Like a Hole" | "Sin" | "Happiness in Slavery" | "Wish" | "March of the Pigs" | "Closer" | "Burn" | "Hurt" | "The Perfect Drug" | "The Day the World Went Away" | "We're in This Together" | "Into the Void" | "Starfuckers, Inc." | "Deep" | "The Hand that Feeds" | "Only" | "Every Day Is Exactly the Same"
Halo index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 
Related articles
Industrial rock | Live performance | NIN in pop culture | Nothing Records | Purest Feeling | Broken Movie | Option 30 | Exotic Birds | Tapeworm
This box: view • talk • edit
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/r/e/Trent_Reznor_5818.html"