Trent Reznor interview. Yes, Nine Inch Nails still rules!
Originally published in Stereo Warning on April 16, 2007
Trent Reznor is back. After a long break from music, he discovered that his furious industrial rock based on jagged guitars, booming drums, jarring keyboards and desperate vocals is as relevant as ever. The Grammy-winning performer behind Nine Inch Nails conquered depression, alcohol and drug abuse and returned to the spotlight when his 2005 album, āWith Teeth,ā debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. He will follow that record up this week in America and Europe with "Year Zero." Japan will see the album in stores April 25. Trent Reznor is currently on tour with NIN -- and we have to congratulate him for hiring our favorite drummer, Josh Freese.
In an interview, the moody but charismatic Reznor revealed his worries about his comeback, his fight with addiction and his philosophy about writing music and playing live.
STEREO WARNING: When you were preparing for your comeback , did you have
a clue whether anybody still had an appetite for you brutal sound and dark lyrics?
TRENT REZNOR: The culture, the times, the people and the business had changed.
I had a new excuse to fight: what if I canāt write sober, what if I donāt
have anything to say, what if Iām irrelevant, what if Iām just old
now, what if it was just an accident that I got popular in the first place?
My lack of putting out records and time between records, although not a calculated
career move, may have benefited me because it skipped certain whole subgenres
of really bad music. But I didnāt go into the record cycle [for "With
Teeth"] assuming that I had all the power that I once wielded.
SW: Has the success of āWith Teethā reignited your love for making
music and touring?
TR: Now I have confidence that Iām working with myself instead of against
myself. I canāt tell you how inspirational that feels and how in love with
music again I am. Somehow I lost that and forgot why I was doing this and it
became a job, a hassle.
SW: How tough has it been to remain sober?
TR: My priorities have shifted. I really want to make the two hours on stage
the best two hours I have that day. In the past, those were a pretty good two
hours, but the three hours after that were going to be even better.
SW: What was going through your head when you came back to New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina?
TR: Iāve missed New Orleans since Iāve moved to Los Angeles . Itās
a very flawed place, but I spent a lot of time there. I really got to know myself
there. Itās been shocking to see whatās happened to it. Iāve
been grieving the loss of a place, because it will never be the same.
SW: How do you approach your live shows?
TR: I like the feeling that Iāve got a great show and a great band and
an interesting presentation that I think isnāt rock show by numbers. I
put a lot of thought and different layers in the presentation to frame the music
in an interesting way. It feels good being backstage knowing that youāre
about to unleash that on people. What I donāt like about it is the length
of time and the tedium that inevitably crops up doing the same thing day in
day out, moving around constantly. My routine is messed up.
SW: So how do you combat that boredom?
TR: I designed a show that could use the scale of the venue and reveal itself
over time and it doesn't get tedious to watch.
Iāve tried to make it something that visually can support the music. Iām
using these props as a framework so that I can get across a range of emotions
and have a set that starts in one place and winds up in another. Itās like
watching a film or a play, thatās the mission. My goal is to make it so
you donāt have time to go to the bathroom during the show. Nine Inch Nails
has always had a theatrical quality and in the 90ās that wasnāt necessarily
looked at as a legitimate thing in the world of blue jeans and flannel shirts.
Iāve always felt like a performer should be and could be larger than life
without being comical and goofy ā it doesnāt have to be Gene Simmons,
you know.
SW: What are you most proud of at this point in your career?
TR: Iām proud that this hasnāt devolved into a nostalgia show. It
doesnāt feel like Iām playing a role, it feels relevant and true to
me, as much as I can tell. Admittedly, I can't be that objective, but one of
the big fears putting the tour together was about the older music. Does that
mean anything to me anymore? Do I feel comfortable singing some of these songs?
We spent a lot of time learning the new record and then moving backwards in
time and finding things that felt good. And I can honestly say looking at the
set list that I canāt wait to play these songs.
SW: Are you pleased with the response from the audience so far?
TR: The fact that I look in the crowd and I see teenage fans along with older
fans that have been with me from the beginning, that feels great. Iām not
trying to sound humbled, but when I came back, I didnāt know how much time
passed and how much things are different culturally than they were in the 90ās.
Itās been a pleasant reception and Iām grateful for that. I felt like
Nine Inch Nails got much bigger than I ever dreamed it could get and I told
myself that the reason that happened was that at its core it was honest and
true and, luckily, it happened to strike a nerve with people. If I ever pandered
to that, to the dollar or commercial sales not listening to what the artist
in me has to say, I think that's just death. Throughout my career, throughout
getting sick and disappearing for a while, I can sleep at night feeling like
Iāve always done what I really thought was the best I can do, like it or
hate it, but it never was for the wrong reasons.
(c) Stereo Warning 2006-2007. All Rights Reserved.
Transcribed by JessicaSarahS