Trent Reznor’s Oscar Excitement Lasted Only 18 Hours
Trent Reznor said his Oscar win for the soundtrack to 2010 movie The Social Network briefly had him thinking about ending Nine Inch Nails – until the feeling of elation wore off in less than a day.
He and colleague Atticus Ross have worked on a number of soundtracks since then, and Ross became the only other official NIN member in 2016.
“Film and scoring forces us to collaborate with people we generally don’t know, and our first attempt at doing that … became one of the most creatively rewarding experiences we ever had,” Reznor told Variety in a recent interview. “It was us learning on the fly, but being surrounded by a camp of people that were all functioning at the highest level of excellence — and we didn’t want to be the ones that fucked it up. Maybe that’s additionally set against the backdrop of the music industry, which kind of sucks in general and is filled with diminishing returns and a sense of being somewhat less culturally relevant than it used to be.”
He noted that "your head spins a little bit when your first film goes on to win an Oscar." "There’s nowhere to go but down from there, right?" he said. "And you start to wonder — should it be, ‘Fuck rock 'n' roll! I’ve got a new lease on life that doesn’t have quite the age limit restrictions that playing in a rock band does? Should I put all my eggs in that basket? Should I take every film that comes around?’ Because now lots of films were coming by.”
But he recalled the feeling didn't last. “As great as winning an Oscar is, the next day by lunchtime, we were back to being the same not-good-enough assholes that we were before we’d won one," Reznor said. "It felt good for maybe 18 hours. It was a great experience and I have a lot of respect for the institution, but it didn’t fix everything that’s wrong with our brains, and our inadequacies remained.”
Reznor was put in mind of the previous time he decided to shut down his band. “I did a farewell tour, 10 years ago or whenever it was, and then ate my words,” he said. “Because something about being able to step away from it gave me a fresh perspective I was lacking when it was the only thing. With this tour we’re on right now, aside from being exhausted right this minute, it has been incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.”
Nine Inch Nails remain on tour until Dec. 15.