For over thirty years, Trent Reznor has made his career as a frontman and multi-instrumentalist for his one-man band Nine Inch Nails. He also found success in his career as a composer for films.
The 1980s were very popular with music when it comes to synthpop, darkwave, glam metal, and thrash metal. However, industrial music had not been recognized as much as the other subgenres of rock music. At the time, it was popularized by Ministry, who blended the genre with their thrash metal sound. The second band was Skinny Puppy, which focused on an experimental and darker synth-oriented sound. However, both bands featured movie samples and dark lyrics. In October 1989, Nine Inch Nails released their debut album called ‘Pretty Hate Machine.’ The band provided a more pop-oriented sound for the industrial genre. Ever since 1989, Trent Reznor has been the only original and consistent member of the band.
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Humble Beginnings To Eventually Finding Mainstream Success
Before Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor was in other synthpop bands such as Option 30 and Exotic Birds. During his time with other musicians, he had contemplated making a one-man band since he was inspired by the musical creative endeavors of Prince, as he was able to make the music himself. He was a janitor at TVT Records. With the permission of the studio owner, he created his debut album during unused studio time. He started his career by playing small venues with a live band that understood his artistic direction of blending heavy metal with synth-oriented sounds. He made an EP with a more guitar-oriented sound called Broken. After that, he released his second album, ‘The Downward Spiral,’ which is regarded as a fan favorite and gave him mainstream notoriety. The success of his second album has granted him time to collaborate with other artists such as David Bowie and Marilyn Manson.
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After a five-year hiatus, he made a double CD album,’ The Fragile.’ It was not well-received by fans or critics at the time of its release. However, it has been regarded as an underrated gem by his fans, who loved the album due to multiple listens for the third album. After touring to promote The Fragile, he focused on sobriety by checking himself into rehab for his drug and alcohol addiction.
Trent Reznor took a six-year hiatus from making a new album until the release of his fourth album, ‘With Teeth.’ It was his first work as a now-sober musician. He realized that drugs and alcohol had interfered with his writer’s block in the past. Two years later, he released his fifth album, ‘Year Zero.’ It became a success to his fans and critics as they noticed increased consistency with his creativity and workflow, as the time gaps between each album became shorter. Around 2008, he released two studio albums: ‘Ghosts I-IV’ and ‘The Slip.’ He started to tour for his fans once again very shortly.
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Trent Reznor’s Work as a Composer and His Collaboration With Atticus Ross
At the start of 2010, Trent Reznor collaborated with fellow band member and film composer Atticus Ross to make music for David Fincher’s movie, ‘The Social Network.’ The film was successful with the merits of having good performances done by Jesse Eisenberg (portraying Mark Zuckerberg) and Andrew Garfield (who played Eduardo Saverin), and also had a solid screenplay that was written by screenwriting legend Aaron Sorkin. However, the film also won for best original score. Both Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross shared the win, beating other experienced composers such as Hans Zimmer (Inception), Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech), and A.R Rahman (127 Hours). The following year, both composers collaborated again with David Fincher to compose the score for ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,’ the second adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s novel. In 2014, they collaborated once again for David Fincher’s 2014 movie, ‘Gone Girl,’ based on Gillian Flynn’s novel, who also wrote the film’s screenplay. The film got an Oscar nomination for Rosamund Pike’s performance as Amy Dunne, a wife who is suspected of being kidnapped and possibly murdered. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross may have gotten both Golden Globe nominations for the score, but they did not receive the Oscar nomination. Nonetheless, critics strongly considered it to be one of 2014’s greatest films.
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In 2016, they collaborated with Peter Berg for his film Patriots Day. It is their first time doing composing work for a different director. The two of them also provided music for the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns for his documentary series, ‘The Vietnam War.’ Around 2018, actor Jonah Hill took it upon himself to direct a coming-of-age comedy drama called ‘Mid90s,’ and had the two composers involved. The composing partners even provided the score for Netflix’s apocalyptic movie, ‘Bird Box.’ The following year, they were involved in scoring music for the TV miniseries version of ‘Watchmen.’
David Fincher had his fourth collaboration with the duo again for his 2020 film, ‘Mank,’ a biopic that focused on Herman J. Mankiewicz, the screenwriter who wrote ‘Citizen Kane’ before Orson Welles co-wrote it. In the same year, they composed the score for the animated Pixar film, ‘Soul.’ The two of them won their second Oscar for their first attempt of making music for a family film. ‘Soul’ also won the Oscar for best animated feature.
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Trent Reznor’s Ongoing Creative Work and Touring Legacy
It is clear that Trent Reznor has no plans of stopping touring with his band Nine Inch Nails. He has no intentions of taking a break from film composing either. In 2022, he and his band played at various festivals around the world. One of them, Hellfest, is a heavy metal festival that includes other hard rock genres. Reznor and his band headlined, and it included opening bands such as Youth Code, Killing Joke, and Ministry. It was a fitting opening act since all of the bands relate to the industrial genre in one way or another. On September 24, 2022, Nine Inch Nails had another tour in Cleveland, Ohio, with Ministry. Only this time, Nitzer Ebb was the first band to play live on stage first on that night, showing that Reznor hadn’t forgotten about his electronic rock-loving fans. In addition to his touring schedule in 2022, he also had a few films under his belt for the fall. He and Atticus had made music for the film ‘Bones and All,’ directed by Luca Guadagnino (director of ‘Call Me By Your Name’). They also did scoring work for Sam Mendes’ film, ‘Empire of Light.’ They composed the score for the highly anticipated 2024 film, Challengers, also by Guadagnino, featuring Zendaya in a bold and dramatic role. Just last month, Nine Inch Nails embarked on their 2025 Peel It Back tour, marking their first major series of performances since 2022. Trent Reznor continues to balance his work scoring films and performing with Nine Inch Nails, proving that his creative drive shows no signs of slowing down.
By Marco Castaneda
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I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
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Marco Castaneda is a graduate student at the California State University, Los Angeles. He is currently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Television, Film, and Theatre, and expects to graduate in the Spring of 2023. He has a strong passion for creating stories as well as reading them. Marco believes that art helps people to give a unique perspective of our lives and the lives of others. He is also currently a substitute teacher for K-12th grade and hopes to teach students how to use their creativity through all aspects and subjects of their lives and not to be afraid of using their talents.
Marco Castaneda is a graduate student at the California State University, Los Angeles. He is currently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Television, Film, and Theatre, and expects to graduate in the Spring of 2023. He has a strong passion for creating stories as well as reading them. Marco believes that art helps people to give a unique perspective of our lives and the lives of others. He is also currently a substitute teacher for K-12th grade and hopes to teach students how to use their creativity through all aspects and subjects of their lives and not to be afraid of using their talents.
