Trent Reznor: From 9 Inch Nails To 11 Inch Trophy
posted in: Music News
Trent Reznor, former front man of Nine Inch Nails, was as surprised as the rest of us by his Golden Globe nomination for scoring The Social Network. After hearing the news, in fact, he stated that it wasn’t even in my realm of my awareness that this could happen. So imagine his surprise when he and Atticus Ross beat out composers AR Rahman (127 hours) and Hans Zimmer (Inception) last Sunday. His post-ceremony tweet says it all: Holy shit.
In retrospect, Reznor’s role in scoring The Social Network makes sense once you consider his past. Nine Inch Nails’ music features a motif of of the machine versus the human and the juxtapositions that happen when they collide, says the LA Times. This theme certainly correlates with the theme of The Social Network,and given the band’s 22 year history, it’s safe to say that Reznor is familiar with this territory.
There were those who were surprised that Trent chose to actually attend the Golden Globe ceremony as well. This is probably partially due to his recently born son at home, but it has more to do with his outspoken views against the music industry. After NIN’s Year Zero was released in 2007, Reznor called out Universal Music Group for overpricing it in Australia. He actually posted on the NIN official website claiming that as the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. This was a direct response to UMG charging $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US) for Year Zero, Reznor called ABSURD. According to Digg, he also encouraged fans to download his album illegally during a concert in Australia, telling them to sand steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealin’. Because one way or another these motherf**kers will get it through their head that they’re ripping people off and that that’s not right.
Despite his rebellious past, however, he accepted the award graciously and will soon be working with co-writer Atticus Ross and director David Fincher again; Ross and Reznor are writing, performing and recording the score to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Reznor revealed that the score will focus more on cellos and other stringed instruments in lieu of the more electronic based compositions of The Social Network.