Nine Inch Nails nucleus Trent Reznor has penned a tribute to former collaborator and personal hero David Bowie and his recent album, The Next Day, in the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter, in which the industrial legend hails Bowie as being “in the very top tier of artists.”
Back in August, Reznor revealed that his friendship with Bowie helped him overcome heavy drug addiction, saying, “when I was in the throes of [addiction] was when we toured with Bowie… and his role to me was kind of mentor, big brother, friend, and also he’d give me kind of shamanish advice.”
“To me, David Bowie is in the very top tier of artists — with capital letters,” writes the Nine Inch Nails frontman in the new editorial, adding, “He’s proved himself so many times that I sit back and trust him. Often, he’s so far ahead of the game, it takes time to catch up.”
“I’m still unraveling the riddle that he presented,” Reznor writes of The Next Day. “I’m still getting new meanings out of the lyrics. What I thought was conservative production now feels forward-thinking. Like any great album, it’s revealed itself to be something that wasn’t what I initially thought.”
“The marketing, too,” continues Reznor, “felt like a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t like the Arcade Fire album [Reflektor] and its yearlong rollout, where it was like, ‘OK, I get it. You’ve got an album out, you’ve played every TV show in the world.'”
“Bowie is the most important figure to have inspired me,” concludes Reznor. “To a kid growing up in rural Pennsylvania, out of reach of college radio and on the wrong side of the Internet – in isolation – to see this alien creep in, this larger-than-life character who was smart…”
“He’s been a consistent reference point as somebody who is uncompromising. He has found an audience yet challenges that audience and continues moving forward in a fearless way.” Reznor and Bowie scored a hit together after Reznor remixed I’m Afraid Of Americans from 1997’s Earthling.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
