Trent Reznor: The Last Honest Rebel

One of my best friends in the entire world, Chris, was fascinated with Nine Inch Nails in college. Right as we began college, NIN was in the midst of a tour in support of 'The Downward Spiral' and Chris saw a handful of the shows. I remember him calling me from a payphone in Chicago on a cold January night when he should have been back at school in Milwaukee. He was asking me to pick him up and take him to the Rosemont Horizon. He took the train back home to see Nine Inch Nails at the last minute and if his parents knew about it, they'd probably kill him; They had just driven him back up to Milwaukee hours earlier after his semester break. Why in God's name would someone drive 90-minutes one way, take a two-hour train in the opposite direction to see a concert and not even have a plan of attack as to how to get back? Some would call it stupidity, but I know exactly why he did it. He needed to be there and he wanted to have that feeling of experiencing something surreal with 18,000 people. There's nothing quite like it in the world and Reznor always has gone above and beyond in delivering a kick-ass show. Chris doesn't follow Nine Inch Nails on the road anymore, but he still buys the records even if he's not as rabid of a fan. Nine Inch Nail mastermind Trent Reznor built a relationship with Chris on record and from the concert stage. As a result, even though Chris's life doesn't exactly have time for idol worship, but he greatly respects Reznor. He never did anything embarrassing and I think my friend still buys his records because he's just as hip today as he was in 1994. More importantly, Reznor continues to evolve as an artist and creates works of art that are so much larger than just a piece of plastic with twelve songs on it but landmark albums that will be listened to and studied centuries from now.

Nine Inch Nails albums confuse many at fist, but slowly you find them seeping into your soul and before you know it, you realize he's created a masterpiece. 'The Fragile' was widely misunderstood in 1999 but when I spoke to people six-months after its release, most of them were heralding it as an unqualified masterpiece that was widely misunderstood by the mainstream media who misconstrues everything, especially when you are creating art never seen or heard before. Trent Reznor has pushed envelopes and boundaries further than any other artist of the last twenty-years (although I'd say Marilyn Manson comes close) and the last person who challenged the industry this much were Alice Cooper and David Bowie. Cooper did it with his stage show and Bowie did it with wildly imaginative character creations, albums and interviews in the late 70's. Reznor embodies the best of both of these worlds while simultaneously challenging the status quo. He's become an innovator at a time where record companies still think people are interested in buying a $18 cd and in a time and place where it costs .99 cents to buy a single on iTunes. Reznor is defying the big wigs in charge by creating his own template. Is it a brilliant one or one filled with holes? I'm not sure but what I do know is that he's out there unlike any other artist and he will take the bullets fired at him for the marketing measures. In 2005 his album, 'With Teeth' came with no inserts, lyrics or anything of the norm. You went to the website and downloaded a PDF file that was so large and immense that it wouldn't have fit into any store bought cd. He admitted at the time, that hindsight may prove differently, but at that moment in time, he felt that was the best thing for him and his fans. Even if you disagreed with him, you had to admire him for not following the status quo.

Earlier this week, Trent Reznor, while performing in Australia, told a crowd to "steal" his album to wild roars of approval. The video can be found here. A few months back, Trent was appalled to go to Australia, walk into a record store and see that his latest album was $35, while all others were $25. When Reznor confronted the people at his label why this was�they told him it was because of the packaging. Reznor rebutted them by telling them he knew that the extra packaging cost .82 cents and that it came out of Reznor's pocket, not the labels. They responded by basically admitting that they KNEW he had a passionate and loyal following who would buy anything he puts out. Reznor was appalled by this and while doing press for his most recent release, he has pointed this example out as to why the music industry is so absurd.

Now here is the amazing thing; Reznor is being heralded as a visionary and genius. Not for his music or even his incredibly imaginative promotions, but because he's honest. He's being brutal and direct and I love it. I remember at one point in my life if an artist I loved was going to be on David Letterman, I would stay up late to catch the performance or see the interview. Now days, I skip it all together because it's all too predictable. Band will play new single much like it sounds on the record and if interviewed will answer the same question we've read in a million interviews. However, while I have never bought a Nine Inch Nails record, I'm now going to be following Reznor's career with a keen and hopeful eye. I can only pray that other artists follow in his lead. I'm sick and tired of the politically correct press releases by not just the entertainment industry but in life as well. We're coming up on a political election where every step taken and word spoken is carefully plotted and thought out. It comes off as disingenuous and fake. Trent Reznor is someone who is truly going to transform the world he lives in by speaking the truth. Why don't more artists do this? Ego? Safety in numbers? Who knows, all I know is that when Reznor gets out of his current record contract, he may stand to make more money than ever before. He's said that the day he finishes recording he's going to put the music up on his website for immediate purchase for something along the lines of $5 and you can pay him via Paypal. When he hits the road he'll bring the fancy package with him, but he's a revolutionary because he's re-writing the book as to how to treat fans and more importantly, showing us how little we need record companies.

What's more powerful, an interview you'll give to GLAMOUR magazine or speaking to the heart of the matter and being truthful in concert? Music industry experts would say the print interview, but look at the Youtube numbers! Over 100,000 people have seen the entire seven-minute clip in three days! We're in a brave new world and it's time to embrace it. Artists need to start letting everyone record their shows�video, audio. Moments that were meant for a few thousand or at the most, 80,000 will soon be seen by millions. It's real, raw and revolutionary and will bring artists more respect and riches than they could ever dream. Embrace P2P trading, Youtube, the net and most importantly�your fans. Don't manipulate them so they buy your album on a whim during week number one, but inspire them, spread the word and make sure the album is being bought six-months after release.

Reznor is a radical and from the looks of the Youtube link, he'll have millions of followers. This is what the music industry needs�a leader and not an American Idol winner or a hip-hop record showing off your insecure bravado. This is the future and those in the industry who try and stop the change will be out of a job within two-years while Reznor continues to have a career decades from now. Not only will he still have a career, but because of his innovative measures, I bet he does more than survive, but thrive in the music world he will create and control. This is the future�embrace it.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and can be found at The Screen Door

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