Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails sat down for a wide-ranging two-hour interview with Rick Rubin for the podcast Tetragrammaton. To the detriment of Nine Inch Nails Fans, Reznor explained that as a 58-year-old father of five, he's more interested in writing film scores than creating an album and promoting it on tour.
"I don't want to be away from my kids," said Reznor. "I don't want to miss their lives to go do a thing that I'm grateful to be able to do, and I'm appreciative that you're here to see it, but I've done it a lot, you know?"
His realization of this was solidified during the pandemic when, in his newfound free time, he didn't have the overwhelming desire to write music. Instead, he just wanted to "do nothing" with his family.
"I kind of want to feel okay and I want to make sure my family's okay, and that's great. That's okay," he said, adding that being a father of five "radically shaped every bit of who I am and why I do anything."
In composing for films, Reznor explained he has found satisfaction in working toward someone else's vision and has been able to explore parts of himself creatively that never would have been possible writing a traditional album.
He also asserted that the music industry and the way that people consume music have undergone significant changes since Nine Inch Nails rose to prominence.
"The importance of music — or lack of importance of music — in today's world, from my perspective, is a little defeating," he said. "Music used to be the thing that was what I was doing when I had time. I was listening to music. I wasn't doing it in the background while I was doing five other things."
Reznor is currently writing the score for David Fincher's film The Killer, as well as Seth Rogen's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with his longtime collaborator Atticus Ross.
Check out the full interview below.
"I don't want to be away from my kids," said Reznor. "I don't want to miss their lives to go do a thing that I'm grateful to be able to do, and I'm appreciative that you're here to see it, but I've done it a lot, you know?"
His realization of this was solidified during the pandemic when, in his newfound free time, he didn't have the overwhelming desire to write music. Instead, he just wanted to "do nothing" with his family.
"I kind of want to feel okay and I want to make sure my family's okay, and that's great. That's okay," he said, adding that being a father of five "radically shaped every bit of who I am and why I do anything."
In composing for films, Reznor explained he has found satisfaction in working toward someone else's vision and has been able to explore parts of himself creatively that never would have been possible writing a traditional album.
He also asserted that the music industry and the way that people consume music have undergone significant changes since Nine Inch Nails rose to prominence.
"The importance of music — or lack of importance of music — in today's world, from my perspective, is a little defeating," he said. "Music used to be the thing that was what I was doing when I had time. I was listening to music. I wasn't doing it in the background while I was doing five other things."
Reznor is currently writing the score for David Fincher's film The Killer, as well as Seth Rogen's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with his longtime collaborator Atticus Ross.
Check out the full interview below.
