Trent Reznor holds a special place in the heart of every production nerd. Experimental, innovative, commercially successful and totally uncompromising – his body of work has influenced everyone from David Bowie, Korn, 5 Seconds of Summer and Lil Nas X. Not artists you usually hear mentioned in the same sentence, but then Reznor’s work seems to cross any number of boundaries.
With a career spanning the early days of sampling up to the current cutting edge of digital production, Reznor’s evolution from menacing industrial rock frontman to film-scoring savant holds lessons for anyone interested in the emotional potency of music production. Now, with the announcement that Nine Inch Nails will be providing the soundtrack for the upcoming film Tron: Ares, it seems like the perfect moment to look at what makes Trent Reznor’s production style so fascinating.
