Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor was recently interviewed by The Current.
On when he’s most creative:
“A weird thing happened before I had kids: my functional time of day was trying to get up before the sun comes up, for whatever reason. I find those first few hours my most productive. The day hasn’t beaten me down yet.”
On meeting Rick Rubin:
“Early on, Rick Rubin introduced himself, and said something along the lines of, ‘You know what? I normally hate this kind of music. I don’t make it past the sounds. But you’ve turned me around on this. I didn’t get it at first, but now I do.’ … That stands out to me, as somebody that meant a lot to me, to hear that.”
On being asked if Johnny Cash could cover a Nine Inch Nails song:
“Rick [Rubin] just called me up and said, ‘We’re doing another record with Johnny, and we’d like to do “Hurt.” Are you OK with that?’ And I said, ‘Of course!’ I’m extremely flattered that Johnny Cash, who I consider an unbelievable songwriter would want to cover one of my songs.”
On hearing Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt”:
“It was very strange hearing his giant voice inhabiting a song I wrote. … To hear those words juxtaposed against the life of this icon, sung so beautifully and emotionally, it was a very conscious reminder of what a beautiful medium music is.”
On composing the score for David Fincher’s film, The Social Network:
“It became one of the best creative, collaborative experiences I’ve had in my life. ”
On his friendship with David Bowie:
“Knowing he was there was a source of strength and inspiration. … I would look to him in a way as a kind of North Star.”
