Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor Bio

Trent Reznor (born Michael Trent Reznor in Mercer, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1965), is an American musician and the main creative force behind the band Nine Inch Nails. Michael Trent Reznor was born to Michael Reznor, an interior designer and bluegrass musician, and Nancy Clark in 1965. Reznor was called by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father. When Reznor was five, his parents divorced and he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Mercer, Pennsylvania. His sister Tera, born in 1971, remained with his mother.

Reznor began playing the piano at the age of five and showed an early aptitude for music. Said his grandfather Bill Clark in a 1995 interview, "Music was his life, from the time he was a wee boy. He was so gifted." His former piano teacher Rita Beglin said Reznor "always reminded me of Harry Connick, Jr." when he played. Reznor was sufficiently talented on the piano that he could have had a career as a professional pianist.

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 Hendley Hoge remembered Reznor as "very upbeat and friendly." Reznor also became involved in theater 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''.

Reznor graduated from high school in 1983 and enrolled at Allegheny College. He studied computer engineering and music and joined a local band named Option 30. Option 30 began playing three shows per week. After a year in college, Reznor decided to drop out to pursue his career in music fulltime.

With his high school friend Chris Vrenna, 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''.

Reznor got a job at Right Track Studio (now know as Midtown Recording) as a handyman. Studio owner Bart Koster commented on Reznor, "He is so focused in everything he does. When that guy waxed the floor, it looked great." Koster allowed Reznor to use the studio during off hours, which he used to record Nine Inch Nails' first album, Pretty Hate Machine.

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 likes video games, most notably ''Doom'' by id Software, which he has said he played in the Nine Inch Nails tour bus after doing shows. He also created the soundtrack for id Software's hit Quake. (As a side-note, the NIN logo also appears on the nailgun ammo boxes in Quake)

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" 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 or id Software. Chris Vrenna, former drummer for Nine Inch Nails, produced the music for Doom 3 with his partner Clint Walsh.

During the five years between his albums ''The Downward Spiral'' (1994) and ''The Fragile'' (1999), Trent Reznor struggled with depression, writer's block, and the death of his grandmother. He has been reported to be suffering from bipolar disorder. It was also been revealed by Reznor that he had been suffering from alcohol addiction during the Fragile era. It was reported that Reznor had considered committing suicide during this period. In a 1999 interview for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, he said that "It just took me time to sit down and change my head and my life around. I had to slap myself in the face: 'If you want to kill yourself, do it, save everybody the fucking hassle. Or get your shit together.'"

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

Reznor is in possession of John Lennon's mellotron, which he has used on Broken, The Fragile, and Marilyn Manson's second album, ''Antichrist Superstar''

Nine Inch Nails

Reznor is the founder and main creative force behind Nine Inch Nails. NIN's major releases are:
*''Pretty Hate Machine'' (1989)
*''Broken'' (1992)
*''The Downward Spiral'' (1994)
*''The Fragile'' (1999)
*''With Teeth'' (2005)
See the main Nine Inch Nails article for more details.

Original songs

*"Videodrones; Questions" on the soundtrack for Lost Highway
*"Driver Down" on the soundtrack for Lost Highway

Work with other bands

*"My Monkey" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Portrait of an American Family'' (1994)
*"Victory (Nine Inch Nails Remix)" for Puff Daddy & The Family, appears on ''Victory: Remixes'' (1998)

Guitar

*"Lunchbox" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Portrait of an American Family'' (1994)
*"Deformography" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Antichrist Superstar'' (1996)
*"Mister Superstar" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Antichrist Superstar'' (1996)

Mellotron

*"Cryptorchid" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Antichrist Superstar'' (1996)

Mix

''Portrait of an American Family'' (Marilyn Manson, 1994)

Piano

*"Man That You Fear" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Antichrist Superstar'' (1996)

Producer

*''Get Your Gunn'', tracks 1-2 (Marilyn Manson, 1994)
*''Portrait of an American Family'' (Marilyn Manson, 1994)
*''Natural Born Killers'' (Soundtrack, 1994)
*"Down in the Park" for Marilyn Manson, appears on ''Lunchbox'' (1995)
*''Prick (Prick album)|Prick'', tracks 1, 3-5 (Prick, 1995)
*''Smells Like Children'' (Marilyn Manson, 1995)
*''Antichrist Superstar'', tracks 1-2, 4-10, 12-16, 99 (Marilyn Manson, 1996)
*''Lost Highway'' (Soundtrack, 1997)
*''Sweet Dreams'', tracks 1-3 (Marilyn Manson, 1997)
*''The Beautiful People'' (Marilyn Manson, 1997)
*''Tourniquet'' (Marilyn Manson, 1997)
*"Victory (Nine Inch Nails Remix)" for Puff Daddy & The Family, appears on ''Victory: Remixes'' (1998)
*''Voyeurs'' (Two, 1998)
*''It Dreams'' (Guest producer, Jakalope, 2004)

Programming

*''Antichrist Superstar'' (Marilyn Manson, 1996)

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)
*"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)
*"Light (Fat Back Dub)" for KMFDM, appears on ''Light (Single)'' (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" for David Bowie, released as a single, (1997)
*"Pleasant Smell (Rethought by Trent Reznor, Keith Hillebrandt and Clint Mansell)" for 12 Rounds, appears on ''Pleasant Smell'' (1998)
*"Pleasant Smell (Rethought by Keith Hillebrandt, Clint Mansell and Trent Reznor)" 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'' (promo) (2005)

Saxophone

*"Communique" for Lucky Pierre, appears on ''Communique'' (1988)
*"I Need to Get to Know" for Lucky Pierre, appears on ''Communique'' (1988)

Singer|Vocals

*"Communique" for Lucky Pierre, appears on ''Communique'' (1988)
*"I Need to Get to Know" for Lucky Pierre, appears on ''Communique'' (1988)
*"Supernaut" for 1000 Homo DJs, appears on ''Supernaut'' (1990) (vocals distorted due to a dispute with TVT Records)
*"Suck" for Pigface, appears on ''Gub'' (1991)
*"The Bushmaster" for Pigface, appears on ''Gub'' (1991)
*"Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" for 1000 Homo DJs, appears on ''Black Box: Wax Trax! Records, The First 13 Years'' (1994) (vocals restored)
*"Past the Mission" for Tori Amos, appears on ''Under the Pink'' (1994)
*"Black Bomb (Jerry in the Bag)" for Josh Wink, appears on ''Herehear'' (1998)

Copyright Citations

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Trent Reznor Biography