Nine Inch Nails frontman discussed the 90’s era of alternative rock/Grunge, and why it was more ‘dangerous’ than today’s ‘shitty’ music, in a new Kerrang interview.
“In the 90’s, it did feel dangerous, it did feel – as an artist – that you were taking chances,” Trent explains. “The power you had as an influencer to culture felt combustible at times. I’m not saying a song doesn’t resonate with someone these days. But as a cultural force or sense of rebellion? America is imploding right now, I don’t hear that in the music.”
Reznor isn’t being jaded, he tells Kerrang he still loves working in popular music and listening for new exciting bands, but he’s struggling with what he hears.
“What I’ve noticed as I’ve got older, what has become more difficult to parse out, is how much of it is me changing and being older, looking at things differently, and how much it just kind of sucks,” he deadpans. “How much of it is actually just shitty and how much is it just me just thinking it’s shitty? I’ve got my own opinion on that.”
He also discussed how today’s society can discard very personal musical output, including his own, within a ‘weekend.’
“As an artist it can be frustrating to work for a long time on an album in today’s all-you-can-eat world,” is Trent’s observation. “It’s leaked, dismissed, reviewed, forgotten, commented on in a day or a weekend. On a good weekend.”
