My dad and I are best friends. He's pretty much responsible for the way I turned out. He would provide a little artistic inspiration here and there in the form of a guitar, stuff like that. Trent Reznor artisticdadform Change image and share on social
'Downward Spiral' felt like I had an unending bottomless pit of rage and self-loathing inside me and I had to somehow challenge something or I'd explode. I thought I could get through by putting everything into my music, standing in front of an audience and screaming emotions at them from my guts. Trent Reznor audiencebottomlesschallenge share on social
A lot of what I've done as Nine Inch Nails has been governed by fear. I was trying to keep the songs in a framework that was tough, and I learnt a lot from Jesus and Mary Chain about how to bury nice pop songs in unlistenable noise - the idea being if you can get behind that wall, you find there's a pearl inside. Trent Reznor burychainfear share on social
Self-examination with a close-up mirror in an antiseptic environment is what Nine Inch Nails is based on. Trent Reznor antisepticbaseclose Change image and share on social
I'd rather not get into what I'm talking about lyrically. I think it's impossible not to demystify a song when saying what it's about. Music and art can be damaged severely by too much information; I say that as somebody that has participated in that. Trent Reznor artdamagedemystify share on social
In Nine Inch Nails, I've been the guy calling the shots since inception. I'd gotten used to that. Trent Reznor callguyhave Change image and share on social
My life has two modes. One is sitting around writing and contemplating or building things. The other is execution mode. It takes a while to switch from one to the other. Trent Reznor buildcontemplateexecution Change image and share on social
I think the reason I was 23 before I ever wrote a song was that I was afraid of testing myself. What would I do if I discovered I didn't have anything to say? Trent Reznor afraiddiscoverreason Change image and share on social
When I return to the writing process after being away from it for a while, the first part of it always is being honest with myself: What am I into right now? Is it rock bands and guitars, is it noise, is it dance beats and electronics? Is it space, is it clutter? Trent Reznor bandbeatclutter share on social