Trent Reznor Confirms Collaboration with Rage Against The Machine's Zach De La Rocha Is "Out There" and Discusses Collaborations with Tool's Maynard James Keenan and Soundtrack Work

​During a live stream chat with New York Times, Trent Reznor discussed some of his side projects and post-Nine Inch Nails efforts, including his How to Destroy Angels project and his collaborations with Maynard James Keenan and Rage Against the Machine's Zach De La Rocha. Reznor's band with his wife/ West Indian Girl singer Mariqeen Maandig and frequent collaborator Atticus Rose is in full swing, and Reznor says that the new recording will sound really different than the EP the group released last year. Reznor also confirmed that he is scoring director David Fincher's take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the American adaptation of immensely popular Swedish book series by the late Stieg Larsson. Reznor and his writing partner Atticus Ross recently worked with Fincher on The Social Network providing a (now Golden Globe-nominated) score for the film which marked a new direction for the musician after retiring his Nine Inch Nails' project. During the Times' interview, Reznor also dished the dirt on the other projects he has been working on in the post- NIN era. Will Nine Inch Nails tour again? What's up with those Rage Against the Machine and Maynard James Keenan collaborations? Some answers here:

What's up with How to Destroy Angels, Reznor's project with his wife/ West Indian Girl singer Mariqeen Maandig and Atticus Rose?

The album is in the works, and it is more "beat and rhythm-oriented" that the Social Network soundtrack. Reznor mentioned that it would be very different that last year's EP, about which he mentions that he's "proud of it, but it feels like the first things we've done," and that it was "the results of a couple of months of experimentation and tinkering."

Will Nine Inch Nails tour again?

"Will I tour again? Certainly. Will Nine Inch Nails play shows again? I'm not saying it's out of the question. There is no tour booked. [I] played 'Head Like A Hole' enough times."

What happened to the Rage Against the Machine collaboration he was working on with Zach De La Rocha?

Reznor "was in the middle of 'I can't do this, it sounds too much like Rage . I can't do that, it doesn't sound enough like what they expect me to do." He also added that his tracks with Rage frontman Zach De La Rocha are "out there."

What other NIN recordings are on the way?

He mentioned that Nine Inch Nails "still owe Interscope a greatest hits bullshit of some sort." Videos of their last tour are on the way too.

Will Reznor's collaboration with Tool's Maynard James Keenan, Tapeworm, ever come out?

"No. [I was] spinning my own wheels at the time."

What will will "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" sound like?
"Nothing will be programed" and audiences will hear "his limited skills at stringed instruments." "I'd read the book but I'd not got the script yet, but I heard a few buzz words [from Fincher] like 'ice' and 'frozen'. We spent three weeks generating blind stuff that I thought would be helpful for them to have. His editors are always looking for temp music to put in mock-ups of scenes he just shot, so I thought it would be a nice present."

How far are you in the process of writing?
[They are at] a very early stage, where Fincher or the picture could require something different once I see what's actually happening. Blade Runner's music feels like it's from Blade Runner. It has its own identity. We're striving to do the same with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the results we have so far really feel like that."

Watch some of the interview here:

Quotes from Empire Online and [Antiquiet]