AcojoNIN

2.16.09: A note from Trent and a wave goodbye

Towards the beginning of my career in Nine Inch Nails, our biggest break came in the form of an invitation to perform a series of shows with Jane's Addiction. These performances essentially created and defined the term "alternative" rock in the US, created an ongoing festival franchise that is still thriving (Lollapalooza), set the stage for Nirvana to shift popular taste a few months later, and were really fucking FUN to play and attend - truly the best times I've had. The shows were epic. So epic, they propelled NIN to the "next level" (whatever that means), but caused Jane's to implode. The band broke up at the end of that tour.

Fast forward to the present. Corporate rock STILL sucks. A friend tells me they saw the original Jane's lineup play a tiny show in LA that was unbelievable. I break out my Jane's records and am amazed by how vital they sound. These guys were the real deal and in this current climate mostly dominated by poseurs and pussies it was refreshing to hear something that sounded dangerous, volatile, beautiful and SINCERE.
Emails were sent, phone calls were made, dinner was arranged, ideas were discussed and the next thing I know we're in the studio experimenting. We laugh, we get to know each other, we cry, we yell, we almost quit, we record LOTS of guitar solos, we discuss, we actually begin to all communicate, we yell some more, we become FRIENDS, we laugh again and we do some great things. I get to see first hand why they broke up all those years ago but I also get the chance to see four distinct personalities that become an INCREDIBLE band when they're in the same room.

In NIN world, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our first releases. I've been thinking for some time now it's time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year's "Lights in the Sky" tour was something I'm quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production. It was also quite difficult to pull off technically and physically night after night and left us all a bit dazed. After some thought, we decided to book a last run of shows across the globe this year. The approach to these shows is quite different from last year - much more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye. I reached out to Jane's to see if they'd want to join us across the US and we all felt it could be a great thing. Will it work? Will it resonate in the marketplace? Who knows. Are there big record label marketing dollars to convince you to attend? Nope.
Does it feel right to us and does it seem like it will be fun for us and you? Yes it does.
Look for tour dates soon and I hope to see you out there.

Trent

Este mensaje fue posteado en la web oficial de Nine Inch Nails el lunes y, pese a que lo leí de casualidad esa misma noche, no le dí demasiada importancia. "Bueno, un descansito le vendrá bien para reponer fuerzas", pensé. Sin embargo, tras ver ayer por la mañana las reacciones de los fans de NIN que conozco, de absoluto pánico unos (PutoJon) y de depresión otros (Perikete), todos con nicks apocalípticos del estilo de "TRENT REZNOR HA DISUELTO NIN" o "R.I.P. NIN 1989-2009", decidí darle una segunda lectura al comunicado y ahí sí que ya empecé a acojonarme un poco. Porque sí, habla de tomarse un descanso ("to make NIN disappear for a while") pero no pone de cuánto tiempo será ese descanso y conociendo al sr. Reznor apostaríamos porque ese paréntesis puede ser bastante largo (¿Dos años? ¿Cinco? ¿Diez? ¿Mil?). Además, el tono de su mensaje es el de un hombre cansado, tanto física como mentalmente, y decepcionado con la industria musical en general que quiere cerrar una etapa de su vida y buscar nuevos caminos para expresar su talento. ¿Productor? ¿Compositor? A saber, el caso es que una vez que diseccionamos su texto, más que un descanso de dos añitos lo que parece que vaya a tomarse es uno como el de Ross y Rachel.

El caso es que la mera idea de imaginarme un mundo sin la música de Nine Inch Nails hace que me entren escalofríos, y es que para mí la música es algo imprescindible y NIN ha compuesto la banda sonora de mi vida a lo largo de los años. Trent Reznor no es un músico más, es un genio de nuestro tiempo que consigue emocionarme con todas y cada una de sus composiciones: desde la más potente ("Happiness in slavery", "March of the pigs", "Gave up", "Wish", "The line begins to blur", "Survivalism", "Starfuckers, Inc.", "Head down"...) a la más intimista ("Hurt", "Right where it belongs", "Zero sum", "Me, I'm not", "Something I can never have", "Echoplex", "Closer", "The great below"...). Y encima Lost termina el año que viene, también. ¿Qué voy a hacer ahora, Trent? ¿Eh? ¡NO PUEDES HACERME ESTO!

Con razón Trent quiere tener más tiempo libre