July 7, 2000 -

He proposed spontaneously to put me on the guest-list, so that we could finally meet.

Nine Inch Nails is scheduled to play today at 10.15 PM.

Around 06.00 PM, I go backstage. The first person I meet there is Jerome. I introduce myself and tell him that he replied to a couple of my messages on the nin.com discussion board. He is very laid back. Ten meters away, I see Charlie, standing near the dressing room entrance. I walk towards Charlie's direction.... he recognizes me, probably from the picture I sent him a couple of days ago. He smiles, welcomes me, shakes my hand and invites me for a coffee.

I tell him that it's so great to finally meet him. He says he feels the same.

Charlie introduces me to the Nine Inch Nails technical and security crews. Lots of familiar faces or familiar names. Everyone is so damn cool. What surprises me the most is that they all seem to know about "The Remix Files"!

We take a seat backstage and start discussing briefly about the tour. The differences between European and US shows, the way the last festivals went, etc.... Charlie explains that -compared to the US tour- they removed the quiet part in the middle of the show ("La Mer / "The Great Below" / etc...) and they only kept the most aggressive and well-known tracks "Head Like a Hole" / "Terrible Lies" / "March Of The Pigs" / "Piggy" / "Reptile" / "The Wretched" / etc...). The only quiet title is "Hurt" that closes the show. So, no rest for the musicians and the audience during the European performances!

Some Nine Inch Nails fans see Charlie from behind the fences and they start waving at him. They are the French NIN fan-club and all wear gray T-shirts, each with one different letter on it. When they line up, you can read "N-I-N-E-I-N-C-H-N-A-I-LS". I tell Charlie that they made an appearance on a French TV channel last week; they promoted the Nine Inch Nails gig in Belfort and explained their one-lettered T-shirt concept.

Charlie thinks it's really original and he asks Rob (nin.com webmaster) to take a picture of them for the nin.com picture of the day. Charlie waves back at them.

Then, he asks me if I'm interested to see the live gear. Of course, I'm interested! Once on stage, Charlie describes each band member's live setup. Impressive amount of Fragile-customized guitars for Trent.... We finally reach "Charlie's corner" and, together with his keyboard engineer, we go through the various racks and keyboards that composed Charlie's setup.

Around 07.00 PM, the tour manager informs Charlie that it is time for a quick dinner. Charlie invites me to join, an offer that I could not refuse! Jerome joins us.

When we arrive at the festival restaurant, Robin is already sitting at a table. We join him at his table and some minutes after a few guys from the technical crew join us. We discuss about traveling and they say that it is a pity that they don't have the time to visit the cities where Nine Inch Nails have concerts.

Charlie had a few day off last week and he spent his birthday wandering in the streets of Copenhagen. He really likes this city....

I ask Charlie about the status of Page Hamilton's solo album. Charlie invested indeed a lot of work in this project (co-writing / programming / mixing / etc...). Most songs are still in a demo state, but Charlie hopes that Page didn't work too much on them yet. He would like to produce them himself and hopes that he will find the time necessary -in August or September- to work more with Page. According to Charlie, David Torn might also collaborate to Page's album and provide studio work. David invited Page to use his personal studio to complete his album. Charlie explains what a great character David Torn is. He describes him as a real innovative artist, motivated by music and absolutely not driven by money.

The dinner is quick. The Nine Inch Nails members have some interviews to do around 07.30 PM. Back to the stage, I leave Charlie to his duties with the press. He tells me that it should be finished around 08.00 PM or so and ask me to come back later.... I go back into the crowd to hear the (excellent) performance of the German indus-metal band "Oomph!".

Around 08.15 PM, I go backstage again. Charlie has finished the interviews. There is still more than two hours before the show. Charlie regrets not having a portable studio: at least, he could have used his spare time to work on new tracks!

Talking about new tracks, I dare to ask Charlie about the next Nine Inch Nails release. He confirms that an EP will be released soon, but he can't confirm August as a release date. He has not checked the definitive release date. The original idea was to release a "Starfuckers Inc." single but, considering the large amount of remixes available, the single became an EP. The master tracks for the EP are all finished for more than one month. Charlie doesn't remember the exact tracklist, but he knows that the EP will run 53 minutes.

It will feature new material such as the Gary Numan's cover of "Metal" and perhaps also a quiet track from "The Fragile" sessions that Trent wants to use as closing track for this record.

It will also feature various remixes by Danny Lohner, Keith Hillebrandt and Charlie himself. Charlie remixed "Starfuckers Inc." and his mix is supposed to be totally different from the original version. All guitar parts have been removed. The beginning of the remix is almost ambient and then it's going crescendo with the addition of crazy beats and sampled vocals. Charlie is very enthusiastic while describing his remix.

Actually, he made the complete remix with a laptop and headphones while he was on tour! It was a real challenge for him to work with such basic material. He is used to work with the complete set of equipment available in his studio. However, Charlie seems to be satisfied with the result. By the way, Charlie tells me that he expects to receive very soon a brand-new plug-in. If the results achieved of this software will meet his expectations, he might be able to remix more tracks without having to use tons of instruments. He seems excited to go back to New Orleans to play with this new toy.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn't remix "Please" as he initially intended to. Lack of time....

There will be some other "Starfuckers Inc." remixes (at least three others) on the EP, incl. a drums & bass mix by Porter Ricks. It sounds completely different from his "The Day The World Went Away" mix and, according to Charlie, sounds more like Squarepusher.

As we go on discussing about Nine Inch Nails' new material, people are continuously moving around us. Danny Lohner came and left (probably to see Slayer playing on the main stage). Among the backstage crowd, I recognize some other well-known faces: Keith Hillebrandt, Leo Herrera, etc... Despite the stress of the upcoming show, all the Nine Inch Nails camp is cool. Smiling, joking, signing autographs for the fans....

One hour before the show or so, Trent arrives. He signs some autographs. He discusses with the technical crew and with the other band members. He seems very busy and I don't want to bother him with my questions. I try to respect his privacy. His main priority for the moment seems to prepare tonight's show....

Meanwhile, I ask Charlie some questions about Tapeworm. Some tracks are completed, some other are more or less demos. He still has a lot a work to do on them. He will try to finish some of the songs with Maynard James Keenan and Phil Anselmo in August. When will the Tapeworm album be finished? When will it be released? Nobody knows.... It is hard to tell considering that this project might conflict with the Nine Inch Nails tour next fall.

Concerning Snake River Conspiracy, Charlie explains that he met Jason Slater through a mutual friend. Jason was interested in working with him. Charlie told Jason to give him an unfinished song, something he didn't know what to do with. Charlie received the raw recording of what became "Oh Well" and treated it like a remix. He sent it back to Jason who loved the result. It was done: the track was on the upcoming SRC debut album!

In addition of the US tour, Charlie would like to play also some dates in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Europe before the end of the year. But nothing has been decided so far.

Charlie will also try to meet the Deftones in August in order to work something out with them. They loved Charlie's remix of "My Own Summer" and they'd like to do more with him. He doesn't know yet if it will be a new track or simply another remix.

I also ask Charlie to tell me more about his remix for David Torn's SplatterCell project. I draw Charlie's attention on the fact that we haven't heard any of his remixes in 2000 (his last remix was the Deftones song in 1999). Charlie likes his SplatterCell remix a lot and he tells me that it is probably the best thing he has done so far. His remix includes parts of five different songs and runs almost 13 minutes. It has different sections: atmospheric, drums & bass and even "Egyptian heavy metal" as Charlie describes it (supposed to sound like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir")! David Torn seemed to be extremely pleased with the result. Charlie made four or five different edits of the remix, but it is the full version of 13 minutes that is going to be released.

Charlie says he took pleasure to work on the SplatterCell track, especially because of the different musical styles present in the remix. He felt the same when he remixed Meat Beat Manifesto's "Asbestos Lead Asbestos".

Almost 10.00 PM. Time for the guys to get prepared for some "stage action". Commando outfit, make-up and flour! While I was quietly waiting backstage for the beginning of the show, Charlie comes with a glass half-full of flour and "baptized" me with it. "Backstage ritual" as he calls it....

I have the chance to follow the concert on the left-hand side of the stage, four meters away from Charlie. The set-list goes as follows: Head like a hole - Terrible lie - March of the pigs - The frail - The wretched - Gave up - Reptile - Wish - Suck - Down in it - Closer - The day the world went away - Starfuckers Inc. - Hurt (thanks to el-doctor for the set-list). Charlie smashes one of his keyboard during "Head Like A Hole", Danny trashes his keyboard later, Jerome destroys numerous drumsticks and there are of course also several injured guitars for Trent and Robin.

I am totally amazed by the fantastic job provided by the sound / instrument engineers. It is impressive to see them crawling around in the dark and working in such messy conditions. These "shadow guys" don't get the credit they deserve: without them, there won't be no show.

Charlie changes remote keyboards three or four times during the gig. He plays the Theremin during "The Day The World Went Away". The band and the technical staff make a great work: what a show! It is really unbelievable, so full of energy. I guess you'll hear about it somewhere else, so I better focus my story on the backstage activities!

It's midnight. The show is already over.... Nine Inch Nails has played for one and an half hour. The band leaves the stage while the final chord of "Hurt" is still vibrating. Trent seems satisfied: he has a smile on his face while he leaves the stage. They go back to the dressing room.

Charlie is the first out. He is very satisfied with the concert and the audience. Then Danny joins us. He's a very friendly person too, nothing like the monster he becomes once on stage! In the crowd, I can see members of Slayer who wants to see Trent.

Trent comes out the last. I am standing near the dressing room exit, talking to Charlie. Trent is one meter away from me. He probably noticed me; I am hanging out backstage for more than six hours now! Trent signs all the stuff that the fans are waving in his direction (tickets, backstage passes, CDs and even empty bottles!). Suddenly, he turns in my direction, smiles at me and says "By the way... I'm Trent!". I shake his hand and introduce myself. He says he knows what I'm doing. He adds "We will make sure that you will get some real nice pictures for your site." I ask Trent what he thought about the show and the audience tonight. He confirms what Charlie already told me by saying it was probably one of their best festivals in Europe (together with Werchter, Belgium).

While I speak with Trent, Charlie takes his digital camera and shots a couple of pictures of me and Trent.

Short after our conversation, Trent leaves the set with several people from the crew. The technicians puts back all instruments in the boxes. They will leave in a few hours to Vienna. Again, I hook up with Charlie. "I've got two more hours to kill! Our bus driver must sleep....".

We take a seat in a quiet room where the unfinished meal of the band members is still on the table. I take a piece of a already bitten pizza-slice. I ask Charlie if he knows who bit the pizza because I would like to sell it on e-Bay! He starts laughing....

As soon as the Nine Inch Nails camp will be back in New Orleans, they will start editing the live footage from the seventy video tapes shot during the Fragility v1.0, v2.0 and the European festivals. They would like to be finished with editing before the next tour. They should release the movie of the live performances on video and also on DVD. Unlike the "Closure" video, Charlie really hopes that the video and the DVD will also be released and distributed in Europe.

I ask Charlie about the projects he participated in, before joining Nine Inch Nails.

He had first the project to record an entire album with original music and samples coming from various TV shows and movies. Charlie liked this idea very much and invested a lot of time into it. He even completed a few songs. This project inspired him "Heresy (version)", a remix with several samples of TV preachers. He says that some of the songs he made in the framework of this project sounded great; the rearranged samples sounded really like verses and choruses.

These tracks are still somewhere in Charlie's huge pile of unused material....

Some music tracks that were supposed to belong to the a.m. project have been compiled on a CD called "Nails" sold by "FirstCom Music", a music licensing company that sells songs / scores / sound effects. Their customer purchase CDs together with a license allowing them to use the tracks for their programs.

Then, there was Burning Retna with Sean Beavan, Chris Bradshaw and Mick Cripps. Charlie met Chris and Mick recently in LA. Burning Retna recorded eight songs and Charlie played some keyboards, but mainly drums during these sessions. Chris must still have the master tapes. Only two songs were released on compilations: "Write My Name In Blood" (original recordings) and "Master X" (reworked by Chris). Charlie says that the Burning Retna songs sounded good....

I tell Charlie that my absolute favorite remix is "Ruiner (version)". He looks happy and says it's also one of his favorite. It is the remix he spent the longest time working on.

I mention to Charlie that I was listening to Prong's "Rude Awakening" album in my car on the way to the festival. Charlie was also provided some studio work for this album (programming / keyboards).

Charlie says that it is definitively one of his favorite metal album. He tells me that Prong was far ahead of their time: their riffs are copied by lots of today's metal bands.

We have also a short chat about the actual state of the music industry: boys bands, Britney Spears, etc.... No need to describe Charlie's disgust for these "marketing products"!

We discuss about the sort of music that Charlie would like to do if he wasn't in Nine Inch Nails. He says he would like to finish first all the heavy tunes he has got in his pile but, after that, maybe something more electronica.

The music he likes? David Bowie, Talking Heads, James Brown (the most sampled artist, especially for rhythm track), Led Zeppelin, Eminem, Tricky, Underworld, Kraftwerk.... Talking about Kraftwerk, Charlie tells me more about his meeting with Florian Schneider last year in Düsseldorf.

Charlie was impressed to meet him because Kraftwerk has always been a reference and a major influence for him. Charlie still thinks that having only robots playing recorded tracks on stage is one of the most brilliant musical idea of the last decades! So, he asked Florian about the Nine Inch Nails show; he replied that it was a pity that Nine Inch Nails was using so many guitars, drums and crash cymbals on stage. According to Florian, it must be the keyboards -and only the keyboards- that must hold everything together. Charlie thought to himself "Oh no.... he really hates what we're doing...." until Florian told him "but don't misunderstanding me, I really love what you are doing! You're one of the most creative band nowadays!".

Charlie keeps apparently an excellent memory of this meeting with the charismatic leader of Kraftwerk.

After almost one complete hour of talk, Charlie says he has something for me: he gives me a copy of "The Fragile" signed by all the band members.

Then Charlie says "Stay here! I've got also something 'from the debris' for you...". After a minute, Charlie comes back with the keyboard he smashed during "Head Like a Hole". "I don't know what you'll do with it, but it is yours!".

Charlie signed it and wrote some lines to thank me for "The Remix Files".

Short after 01.00 AM, Charlie feels hungry. So, we leave the backstage to visit some of the festival tents selling French fries and kebabs. Some Nine Inch Nails fans recognize Charlie. I guess that my smashed keyboard with its "NIN" silver letters probably caught their attention as well! Anyway, they come to greet Charlie, ask him to sign autographs, shoot some pictures. Charlie accepts these exercises with a smile on his face, posing for photos and answering all sorts of questions. Then Danny shows up (he had apparently visited the same Kebab tent!) and goes through the same "ritual" as Charlie (signature, questions, pictures...) with the same generosity.

It's almost 02.00 AM: time for Nine Inch Nails to hit the road again. An eleven hour drive to Vienna. Tomorrow night, bus again -for the last time- to Milan. On Monday, everyone returns back home ...

We stand in front of the two buses (one for the band and another for the crew). I say good-bye to Danny and to Charlie. I thank him for this incredible day. We'll keep in touch and try to see each other ASAP.

This day taught me that Charlie is not only an extremely talented artist, but also one of the friendliest person I've ever met. Like everyone else (I talked not only to other fans but also to some organizers of the festival), I was impressed by the simplicity and the generosity of the Nine Inch Nails band members, as well as their crew. An example of modesty that many so-called "rock n' roll stars" should meditate....

Thanks again for everything Charlie!

© Copyright 2000 - "Charlie Clouser - The Remix Files" - Do not use, copy or reproduce without prior written authorization.