Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor (born Michael Trent Reznor May 17, 1965), is an American musician.

Biography

Michael Trent Reznor was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, to Michael Reznor, an interior designer and bluegrass musician, and Nancy Clark. Reznor was called by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father. When Trent was five, his parents divorced, and he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Mercer. His sister Tera, born in 1971, remained with his mother.

Related Topics:
Mercer - Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh - Interior designer - Bluegrass - 1971

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Trent began playing the piano at the age of five and showed an early aptitude for music. In a 1995 interview, his grandfather Bill Clark remarked, "Music was his life, from the time he was a wee boy. He was so gifted." http://nothing.nin.net/int12.html His former piano teacher Rita Beglin said Reznor "always reminded me of Harry Connick, Jr." when he played. http://nothing.nin.net/int12.html Reznor was sufficiently talented on the piano that it is believed he could have pursued a career as a pianist.

Related Topics:
Piano - 1995 - Harry Connick, Jr.

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At the Mercer Area Junior and Senior High Schools, Reznor learned to also 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." http://nothing.nin.net/int12.html 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.

Related Topics:
High School - Saxophone - Tuba - Jazz - Marching band - Jesus Christ Superstar - The Music Man

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

Related Topics:
1983 - Allegheny College - Computer engineering - Option 30

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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.

Related Topics:
Chris Vrenna - Cleveland - Ohio - 1985 - The Innocent - Keyboard

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In 1986, Reznor appeared as a member of the fictional band The Problems in the film Light of Day. He also joined a local Cleveland band the Exotic Birds.

Related Topics:
1986 - Light of Day - Exotic Birds

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He got a job at Right Track Studio (now known as Midtown Recording) as a handyman. Studio owner Bart Koster commented how Reznor "is so focused in everything he does. When that guy waxed the floor, it looked great." http://nothing.nin.net/int12.html Koster allowed Reznor to use the studio during off hours, which he used to record demos for songs that ended up on Nine Inch Nails' first album, Pretty Hate Machine. These demos were later released as a bootleg under the name Purest Feeling.

Related Topics:
Right Track Studio - Midtown Recording - Pretty Hate Machine - Purest Feeling

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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 is credited for "Driver Down" on the soundtrack for Lost Highway. There are two other tracks, "Videodrones; Questions" and "The Perfect Drug" which are credited to Nine Inch Nails instead.

Related Topics:
Marilyn Manson - Portrait of an American Family - 1994 - Smells Like Children - 1995 - Antichrist Superstar - 1996 - Natural Born Killers - Lost Highway

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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 nail gun ammo boxes in Quake and prior to this, embedded in the floor of a secret room in Ultimate Doom).

Related Topics:
Video game - Doom - Id Software - Quake - Nail gun

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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.

Related Topics:
2003 - Video game - Doom 3

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During the five years between his albums The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), Trent Reznor struggled with depression, social anxiety disorder, writer's block, and the death of his grandmother. It has 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.'"

Related Topics:
The Downward Spiral - 1994 - The Fragile - 1999 - Depression - Social anxiety disorder - Writer's block - Death - Grandmother - Suicide - Rolling Stone - Magazine

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Tapeworm, a collaboration with Danny Lohner, Maynard James Keenan of Tool, and Atticus Ross of 12 Rounds, 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 when Keenan's other band A Perfect Circle performed 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.

Related Topics:
Danny Lohner - Maynard James Keenan - Tool - 12 Rounds - A Perfect Circle - 2001 - EMOTIVe - Constantine

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Reznor is believed to be involved in discussions regarding a musical version of the novel Fight Club.

Related Topics:
Musical version - Novel - Fight Club

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