By wildwoman1313
After twenty years of making music as Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor announced earlier this year that he was disbanding the group following one last go-round with Jane’s Addiction. Fans who caught the recent NIN/JA 2009 tour and suffered the news that Reznor was calling it a day in the interest of his sanity, may now be surprised to learn that Reznor may have been a bit premature in calling the shows the band’s last. It seems the beefy mastermind behind one of the bands who put industrial rock on the map is having a change of heart.
To say Trent Reznor is an overachiever is an understatement. Growing up amid the cornfields of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Reznor played saxophone and tuba as a member of both his high school jazz and marching bands, was involved in the school’s drama program, and was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists in a local band called The Klikz. He went onto study computer engineering at Allegheny College where he joined Option 30, a local band playing three shows a week. Reznor dropped out of college after his first year and headed to Cleveland, Ohio, to pursue a career in music.
Long considered to be one of the most creative figures in music, Trent Reznor is the only official member of NIN. Inspired by Prince, Reznor played all instruments but drums on his early recordings when he couldn’t find a band to articulate his songs to his satisfaction. He continues this practice on most NIN studio recordings with only occasional involvement from other musicians and assistants. After he cuts an album, Reznor then assembles an ever-revolving lineup of musicians to take out on the road to perform with him, often rearranging songs to fit a live setting. Acting as producer, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Reznor is a virtual one-man band operating under the stage name Nine Inch Nails. The band has earned two Grammy Awards and landed Reznor a spot on Time magazine’s list of The Year’s Most Influential People of 1997.
NIN has sold over 20 million albums worldwide since 1989 with eight major studio releases including Reznor's first as Nine Inch Nails, the commercially successful Pretty Hate Machine. The band’s second full-length effort, 1994’s The Downward Spiral, remains the highest-selling NIN release in the United States. Reznor rented the infamous 10050 Cielo Drive mansion, site of the 1969 Manson Family murders, to record the album. It would take another five years, however, for the follow-up record, The Fragile, to be released due to Reznor’s perfectionism; struggles with depression, social anxiety disorder, and drug and alcohol abuse; as well as bouts of writer’s block.
The contentious Reznor is equally known for his feuds with the corporate end of the recording industry. He cut ties with his label in 2007 and set out to release all future NIN recordings independently, slamming the parent company of his record label for their pricing and distribution plans for Nine Inch Nails’ 2007 album Year Zero, and urging his fans to “steal” his music online rather than purchase it legally. In 2008 he released the instrumental album Ghosts I-IV which was followed by the release of the studio album, The Slip, via free digital download as a show of appreciation for his fans, stating on his website, “This one’s on me.“
With the recent Jane’s Addiction dates, Reznor felt the show rushed due to time-allotted sets and having to perform in daylight, a most unnatural setting for NIN whose stage show is known for its brooding, oppressive aesthetic. Reznor feels this denied NIN a proper send-off. Recently engaged, his life headed in a new direction, he reiterates that this wave of tour dates will be the band’s last.
NIN will play a series of informal, intimate shows at ballrooms and mid-sized venues in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago in late August and September. Joining them in NYC will be the British band The Horrors with Danish art-rockers Mew opening select dates in all three cities. Reznor promises a memorable goodbye with the added shows and hopes to film them as well. Catch NIN while you can because you never know, this time Trent Reznor may mean it. You can visit the Nine Inch Nails website at www.nin.com for more information on final tour dates.
