The elusive Trent Reznor has spoken to the NY Times. In the lengthy interview, Reznor talks about all the expected topics, including his status as a musical free agent and his nontraditional marketing and distribution plans, and he also discusses his battle against alcoholism and heroin addiction, both of which he kicked in 2001. Since lots of websites will cover this article, here is the link to the full interview and just a brief portion that struck my interest:

As a musician and fan, Mr. Reznor is an old-school rocker who is devoted to the album as a creative unit to be savored and pondered as a whole. But he has also reinvented himself as a digital-era adept. Unlike the Eagles and Radiohead he’s not taking years to make albums; he has recognized that while he grew up treating an album like a novel, younger listeners, freely downloading music and setting their iPods on shuffle, are more likely to treat it like a magazine.

Since magazines themselves are dying a protracted and ultimately painful death, Reznor certainly understands the implications of such a statement. He’s building a new model for us, folks.

In the meantime, I managed to dig up an old interview with Reznor that made me giggle years ago when it first came out. It still makes me laugh, and here are the best portions:

After the show we drive down to a club in the Cleveland Flats where there’s a party. On the way in Trent signs a couple of autographs, but this doesn’t satisfy demand. “Trent!” shouts one girl. “You suck!” Later, a man comes up brandishing a British Petroleum business card. “What the fuck do you want?” Trent asks. Trent puts the card in his mouth, chomps off a little and hands the ripped card back. The man looks pleased but wants more. Trent takes it back and spits on it. The man is utterly delighted.
….
As he lies in bed this girl keeps phoning him. His calls are being blocked so she must be staying somewhere in the hotel. She tells him he’ll know her when he sees her - she’s the one who sings “Hurt” really loud at every concert.

“Don’t do that,” he tells her. “Nobody wants to hear you.”

Later on, the journalist asks Trent if he’s ever kissed a man. His response is as follows:

Almost. A veil of drunkenness. It was kind of a mutual thing. It was weird. I was half joking around. It was bristly. And later - in the old Nine Inch Nails - if we wanted to get rid of people, the guitar player and I would start making out. It was a trick. I mean, I really love women. I don’t dislike men and there’s many time I’ve thought about it. You get into certain scenes and I realize I should experiment down that path and I just haven’t done it yet. I’ve been in situations where there’s men involved, but not directly interacting.
….
I think about giving head though. I don’t know why I’m saying this, but I think about that. I’d be good at giving head, because I know what… (laughs)… I mean, no one knows how to jack yourself off better than yourself, you know?
….
The next day, Trent offers a postmortem: “I woke up in a cold sweat this morning fearing I’ve revealed too much. I started getting that uneasy feeling.” I am not sure what he means, and he doesn’t elaborate. About half an hour later he sighs, under his breath, “The big headline: I COULD SUCK A MAN’S COCK…”

Ha! Oddly enough, I don’t have much to say about that. Reznor’s words stand on their own, bitches.

Imagery: lolnin.com