DOOM! Magazine

Posted by MiseryXchord on Saturday, May 15th, 2010

It was no surprise that HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS was revealed to be Trent Reznor’s new post Nine Inch Nails musical project, nor that it’s a collaboration with musician/wife Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, and that frequent NIN associate Atticus Ross is filling out the roster.  If anything what’s surprising is the rapidity with which it was revealed, hearkening more to the sudden release of NIN The Slip (which seemed to spring out of nowhere…. oh hey, here’s this entire album for you, enjoy!) rather than the long lead in and viral campaign of Year Zero (Parepin, what?). More of a tease than a mystery. But now that the artists are out of hiding with a stunning new music video following on their heels, we can just revel in the fact that WE HAVE NEW MUSIC FROM TRENT REZNOR.

And when does new music not mean a new web presence? On May 5, Trent Reznor told fan’s on HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS’ Facebook page that they wanted to explore whether the discussion board could be used for Q&A sessions, and solicited questions from the group. Band members have since been dropping in on “Questions for HTDA?” to respond. Here’s what they’ve asked up to today…

Luke Norton: are there any plans for a physical release of the single and/ or e.p.?
TR: yes for EP, no for single

Joel Sanderson: Are there plans for touring?
TR: This EP is the results of early collaboration. We were going to use all of 2010 to experiment and gestate but liked the early results and decided to share them. Next up is a full LP (tent. early 2011) and then MAYBE some degree of touring.

Eliot Jenkins TR: it’s obvious that you’ve wanted to put nine inch nails on hold for a while and try some other things. so, for you, how is this different from nine inch nails (besides the obvious: a different vocalist, a more collaborative work, etc.)? what do you feel you can do now with this band that you couldn’t do with nine inch nails?
TR: As stated above, this EP is a very early phase of this project. Yes, it sounds more NIN-ish than I believe it will as we progress. To me, HTDA frees me from some of the constraints I’ve begun to feel (primarily emotionally) in NIN.
NIN is not dead and I am about to work on some material that I believe will be quite different than previous NIN very soon.

Joanne Greenwood: Any plans for a uk download of drowning?
HTDA: A Drowning should be available on Amazon’s UK site. The download will also be available on numerous other download sites, including iTunes worldwide, Zune, Napster, etc, in the coming days. It’s been submitted, but exactly when it appears in these stores is out of our hands. Amazon US & UK were simply the first ones to add it.

Alun Phillips: UK Tour?, Is Atticuss a band member or a collaborator? and How deep is the Coil connection ( Read somewhere that Peter Christopherson may be a member), is it just the name?
TR: The band at the moment is Mariqueen, Atticus and myself. Peter is an old friend and collaborator. I obviously ran the name choice by him first and we’ve discussed him contributing to the upcoming material in one form or another.
Tour question answered above.

Robert Duff: Are the earlier sample/teaser noises from the website going to be released or preserved in any way?
TR: this will become clear soon.

Melissa Salazar: Is the writing just as collaborative as the music?
Please, tell us- just how seperate our we to consider NIN from How to Destroy Angels?
Are you striving to make HDH have a musical identity of it’s own? With it’s own fan base? Own agenda? Own vision?
Are you expecting (for lack of a better word) NIN fans to recieve HDH well? To appreciate and respect HDH while still loving NIN?
TR: whoa… what??

Ollie Nedwell:Apparently there are only two ‘Swarmatrons’ in existence. It sounds excellent on the very first video you released (nice work Mariqueen, unless Trent got back into black nail varnish… ).
I was wondering if you were given it as a present or whether you purchased one?

Trent: Does the instrument feature on Ghosts 20 III by any chance?

TR: For those of you interested in the green thing Mariqueen is playing:
http://www.dewanatron.com/instruments.php?page=swarmatron
I bought this from Big City Music and it’s been a pleasant surprise in terms of usability and sound. We didn’t use it on Ghosts because I only learned of it’s existence a few months ago. Next Ghosts, for sure.

Jeff Davis: One of the synthlines in the teaser videos sounds similar to ‘Computer Love’ by Kraftwerk/’Talk’ by Coldplay. Is this indicative of a cover, an homage, or was it unintentional?
TR: Yes to the Kraftwerk influence / nod but please don’t remind me of the Coldplay abomination.

Jaykub Muf Fin Birney: Hey, in the off-chance you read this, I got to say I love A Drowning to death. Great job :)
Any plans to release any other songs/samples/possible video for the single before the EP?
I seriously can’t wait–any idea what month the EP will be released?
TR: more will be released before the whole thing. Friday is a cool day…
EP in July

Melissa Chambers McClellan: This question is for Mariqueen, Atticus and Trent, any or all to answer. I read that there would indeed be a physical release for “How To Destroy Angels,” but I’m curious as to if there will be any type of Deluxe Packaging, perhaps even along the lines of NIN’s “Ghosts?” I for one know that I would love to have such a thing, as I’m sure that many already-made-fans would also be interested. Thanks, Luke
TR: No Deluxe packaging for the EP, but certainly for the full length record next year.

Brian Hughes: How do you feel about www.diddyblog.com. After seeing that 25% of my IRA had evaporated overnight seeing this pretty much sealed it as a shitty day.
TR: I haven’t actually experienced the “Diddy blog” but just putting those two words together leads me to think I’m not missing much.

Doug Mroz: Are you and Rob Sheridan still working together?
TR: Yes of course. He’s art directing HTDA as well as working on a few other items with me at the moment.

Paul Scott: Will multi-track audio be made available for fans to remix, like with NIN?
TR: You know, I haven’t really thought about that. Yes probably. I’d like to build out the HTDA site a bit to accommodate it directly rather than piggyback it into NIN.com, but (thinking as I’m writing) fuck it maybe I’ll put the multitracks up there in the meantime. Thanks for bringing that up.

Zep Ilyas Hey Trent, are you still planning on doing a live action adaptation of Year Zero or are you planning a sequel to Year Zero?
TR: I’m still getting used to the incredibly slow pace that television works, but for now just let me say YZ is very much alive. Can’t say any more yet. The fate of the musical sequel / conclusion / coda to YZ is somewhat dependent on how things play out with the series as well as the how the tone of the new material I have earmarked for NIN develops.
Did that make any sense?

Mollie Echeverria: I dig the Cranes-y juxtaposition of female vocals and noisy music. Can we expect a dream pop/shoegaze/ethereal sound for the EP?
Alternately, since I noticed Gang of Four and Cabaret Voltaire listed as influences on your Myspace page, will there be a current of funkiness?
Finally, there’s a piece called “A Drowning” in Tuxedomoon’s Ghost Sonata; was this in any way an influence (or just coincidental)?
TR: A Drowning is fairly unlike the rest of the EP. The rest of it gets noisier.
Early to mid-period Cabaret Voltaire is a big influence, as is GO4, as is P.i.L. and the like. I’m aware of Tuxedomoon but never listened to them.

Daniel Dunderfelt: Who is the main lyrics writer in this project?
Also, Mariqueen, you sound amazing. Your voice is just so perfect for Trent’s music! Sorry if this sounds like asskissing, but I really mean it. A Drowning is amazing.
MR: nobody has strict rules as to their role in the band, but the majority of the lyrical content falls on me. ps – thanks :)

Serena Pegues: My question is for Trent. I am 7 months sober and a dancer., I’ve been dancing since i was a baby. Ever since I got sober, I am finding it hard to create/choreograph. Did you experience a lapse in creativity when you got sober? How did u move past it?
TR: For me personally, I waited a while to feel somewhat human and then found creating to be much easier and natural. Drugs hindered me much more than they ever helped creatively.

Do you have a question for HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS? Join their Facebook fan page and post it in “Questions for HTDA?”

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 15th, 2010 at 7:12 AM. It is filed under Interviews, MiseryXchord and tagged with HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS, Mariqueen Reznor, Trent Reznor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.