“Trent Reznor asked, ‘Who wants Justin in the band?’ And they all raised their hands. A few days later, I was digging into the setlist for a world tour”: How Beck’s longtime bassist scored his spot in Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails performs at the Beijing Pop Festival September 9, 2007. Justin Meldal-Johnsen performs with Beck at the Lands End Stage during day 1 of the 2012 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park.

As musical director for Beck, one of alternative rock's most progressive acts, Justin Meldal-Johnsen was driven to master his voice as a low-end interlocutor, free to cast his wildly inventive basslines in fresh, funky tones.

Through his work with Air, Ima Robot, Macy Gray, Gnarls Barkley, Nelly Furtado, Garbage, Pink, Ladytron, They Might Be Giants, and Goldfrapp, Meldal-Johnsen has shown that his range as a bassist is rivalled only by his versatility as a player – in the broader sense – on the business side of music.