Trent Reznor battled self-doubt, alcoholism, making Nine Inch Nails albums

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor revealed that the reason it took so long to release Nine Inch Nails albums was because he was too scared.

Reznor spoke with PBS host Tavis Smiley about scoring the soundtrack to Facebook movie The Social Network.  During the interview, the NIN leader revealed that self-doubt and alcoholism kept him from releasing albums more frequently.

“It took a long time for me to get my act together," Reznor said, "When fame presented itself to me I was not at a point in my life where I was equipped to deal with it.  I had a built-in sense of not being good enough.

“An easy way to deal with is was to self-medicate – but self-medication stifled creativity, and even the ability to like myself. I hated who I’d become. I had to get better.”

However, Reznor spent the better part of the last decade getting sober and regaining his confidence.

“It took a long time to get my act together.  But I got sober and I worked on myself.  I can put out more material now because I feel better about it and it doesn’t come with baggage.  I go into projects now thinking, ‘I’m going to give it my best and see what comes out’.  That’s opposed to staring at a blank page and saying, ‘I have to write the best thing ever’ – which is a guaranteed way to make sure the page stays blank.

“I’ve done work this year that I felt is good and I’m back to the planets have aligned.  I’m going to approach a new project with humility and strategise how I can make it as good as it can be.”

Reznor has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his work on The Social Network.  He also started a project with his wife called How To Destroy Angels and reissued the Nine Inch Nails classic Pretty Hate Machine.