Growing up in the 1990s, my cousins were into music by Nine Inch Nails and got me hooked on it. I was about 10 when they hooked me up with a cassette tape with some of their music. Soon I was looking for the NIN logo on any compact disc to build my own collection. What Trent was making helped get me interested in music and it was far from the music my parents listened to (I often wonder what my children will listen to). This was an artist that captured my attention, I wanted to hear all that I could, and with a double album like “The Fragile” in 1999, there was a lot to listen to. Some of my friends in school were even more passionate about Trent’s work than I was, that made it easy to agree on a road trip album, and compare favorite tracks. I was bonding with friends, family, and learning more about my own interests with the help of Reznor’s industrial, electronic, rock music. Hearing his music in movies, including the scores he has made specifically for films in the last 7 years, bridges the gap between the mediums for me. Songs that I have heard repeatedly throughout the years playing in a movie carry far more weight with them than the directors may ever know.

Trent grew up in Mercer, Pennsylvania, began playing the piano when he was 12, and would learn how to play more instruments (which he has usually recorded for album releases). In 1989 he released his first album, “Pretty Hate Machine” by Nine Inch Nails, while working at a recording studio in Cleveland, Ohio. His success with NIN enabled him to collaborate with many artists such as Ministry, David Bowie, Maynard James Keenan, Marilyn Manson (producing his first album), and Atticus Ross. Reznor has tried new things in the music world such as releasing an alternate reality game alongside an album of NIN, uploading tracks and albums online for free downloads, and performing live shows with visuals controlled by the band themselves. He has produced music for video games and more recently, scores for movies, including winning an Academy Award with Atticus Ross for The Social Network (2010). Director David Fincher got the pair back for 2 more of his films with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Gone Girl (2014). The pair’s most recent film score can be heard in Patriots Day (2016 starring Mark Wahlberg). More please!