Oscar nominations were announced this week and among the top contenders in the music categories is Trent Reznor, mastermind behind the industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor, in collaboration with English producer and fellow electronica whiz Atticus Ross, composed the score for the David Fincher drama, The Social Network. The much-lauded film about the founding of Facebook won the duo a Golden Globe for Best Original Score Motion Picture earlier this month. In his bid for Oscar gold, the rocker is keeping some illustrious company, squaring off against more experienced film composers including Hans Zimmer (Inception), Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech), A.R. Rahman (127 Hours), and John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon).
The newlywed Reznor had just shelved Nine Inch Nails and was settling into married life when Fincher came calling. "When I actually read the script and realized what he was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned." Reznor approached his first-ever movie score—a non-traditional one by Academy standards—without expectations of any sort. "We were intrigued and excited to see what we could bring to the project,” he says, “but truly couldn't imagine it would lead to an Oscar nomination.”
As a small-town boy growing up in Mercer, Pennsylvania, Trent Reznor dreamed of becoming a musician. He took up the piano at age 5 and showed an early aptitude for music. In addition to the piano, he learned to play guitar, synthesizer, bass guitar, saxophone, drums, tuba, harpsichord, pan flute, sousaphone and marimba. Most of Reznor’s work prior to The Social Network has been with Nine Inch Nails, a music project he founded back in 1988. As the band’s only official member, he acts as its main producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. The over-achieving perfectionist is a frequent collaborator, working with artists like Marilyn Manson, Tori Amos, and Maynard James Keenan of the progressive/art rock band Tool. He also wrote several songs under the NIN banner for the soundtrack to the films Natural Born Killers and Lost Highway.
Reznor jumped at the chance to challenge himself when presented with the opportunity to compose the score to The Social Network, a film with a complex emotional range but little action, even less violence and no traditional love story. Music that wasn’t intended to be in the forefront. "I really try to put myself in uncomfortable situations,” the 45-year-old said. “Complacency is my enemy.” Like a child on Christmas morning, he was itching to dig in and experiment with the bevy of sounds at his disposal. What he and Ross came up with, however, is something completely atypical to the kind of orchestrations awards voters typically fawn over. The pair created a world of synthetic sound that is taut, sparse and moody with a touch of acoustic piano added to suggest vulnerability, foreboding, and maybe even a trace of sympathy for the Facebook founder. "I don't know the real Mark Zuckerberg," Reznor said, "but I understand that character. The act of creation at any cost, I can relate to. The pursuit of my vision of Nine Inch Nails caused betrayals and cost me friendships. But the goal was No. 1.”
With a couple Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe already on his mantelpiece, Trent Reznor turns his sights on the coveted Oscar statuette. A win will land him halfway toward EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status, the Grand Slam of show business. The 83rd annual Academy Awards will take place February 27 in Los Angeles.
In other related Trent Reznor news, it was announced in April 2010 that he had formed a band with his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross called How to Destroy Angels. The group, who released a self-titled six song EP last summer, could have a full-length album out in 2011 and are flirting with the idea of touring. In addition to his new band, Reznor is currently working with The Band’s Robbie Robertson on Robertson’s first album in 13 years.
As for his most famous project, Reznor says Nine Inch Nails isn't dead, but that he's about to change things up and "work on some material that I believe will be quite different than previous NIN."
Reznor recently announced that he and Ross will once again be collaborating with David Fincher when they compose the score to the US film adaptation of the best-selling novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which will be in theaters next Christmas. Of the music, Reznor told Rolling Stone it has an “organic, layered feel” like nothing he’s ever done before.
