Nine Inch Nails (NIN) is an American
industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by
Trent Reznor in
Cleveland,
Ohio. As its main
producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction.
[1] NIN's music straddles a wide range of genres, while retaining a characteristic sound using
electronic instruments and processing. After recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles
a live band to perform with him. The touring band features a revolving lineup that often rearranges songs to fit a live setting. On stage, NIN often employs spectacular visual elements to accompany performances, which frequently include mesmerizing light shows.
[2]Since 1989, Nine Inch Nails has made eight major studio releases. The most recent releases, Ghosts I–IV and The Slip, both released in 2008, were released under Creative Commons licenses. Both were initially released digitally, with physical releases coming later. The digital release of The Slip was made available completely free of charge. NIN has been nominated for twelve Grammy Awards and won twice for the songs "Wish" and "Happiness in Slavery", in 1992 and 1995 respectively.
In 1987, Trent Reznor played keyboards with a Cleveland band called the Exotic Birds, then managed by John Malm, Jr.. Reznor and Malm became friends, and when Reznor left the Exotic Birds to work on music of his own, Malm informally became his manager.[9] At the time Reznor was employed as an assistant engineer and janitor at Right Track Studios,[1] and asked studio owner Bart Koster for permission to record some demos of his own material for free during unused studio time. Koster agreed, commenting that it cost him "just a little wear on [his] tape heads".[10] While assembling these, the earliest Nine Inch Nails recordings, Reznor was unable to find a band that could articulate the material as he desired. Instead, inspired by Prince, Reznor played all the instruments except drums himself.[11] This role remains Reznor's on most of the band's studio recordings, though he has occasionally involved other musicians and assistants. In 1988, after playing its first shows supporting Skinny Puppy, Reznor's ambitions for Nine Inch Nails were to release one 12-inch single on a small European label.[12] Several labels responded favorably to the demo material, and Reznor signed with TVT Records.[1] Ten selections from the Right Track demos were later released in revised form on the band's first full-length studio release, Pretty Hate Machine in 1989.
Reznor said in 1994 that he coined the name "Nine Inch Nails" because it "abbreviated easily", rather than for "any literal meaning".[13] Other rumored explanations have circulated, alleging that Reznor chose to reference Jesus' crucifixion with nine-inch spikes,[14] or Freddy Krueger's nine-inch fingernails.[15] The Nine Inch Nails' logo, which consists of the letters "NI?" set inside a border, was designed by Reznor and Gary Talpas. The logo first appeared on NIN's debut, "Down in It", and was inspired by Tibor Kalman's typography on the Talking Heads album Remain in Light.[16] Talpas, a native of Cleveland, would continue to design NIN packaging art until 1997.[17]
