Trent Reznor Says Kanye West & The Weeknd Ripped Off Nine Inch Nails' Stage Production

In the past Nine Inch Nails have been at the forefront of stage production technology on tour, hellbent on creating an impressive spectacle. Recent years however have found the band scaling back for a more intimate experience. As Reznor reveals in an interview with BBC Music 6 below, there’s a reason for that.

In part it has to do with copycats, whom he calls out by name: Kanye West and The Weeknd. He said of that in the below interview:

“I’d been obsessed with, since the beginning, attempting with whatever resources I had access to, of transforming the live venue into as much of an immersive experience as possible. And then usually relied on, when we finally had access to it, screens and experimental production techniques. I remember us watching a string of bands on Coachella from the comfort of our couch, you know, and every band has a video playing behind them, and every band is sunk up with a convenient, polite lighting package, you know?

And I saw Kanye West blatantly rip off, and The Weeknd rip off, our tours, with production-wise, which I’ll say without any hesitation. And they know. And I thought what would be exciting to me is just to see — when I think back to The Cure, when I saw them the first time or Jesus And Mary Chain when we opened for them, all I remember of that was smoke, maybe a color, a little bit of someone’s hair and real, real loud guitars.

That’s exciting, and I don’t see that happening much. So we went the opposite of the arms race we had been in, of immersive, technological based production and went for a ‘It’s music being played somewhat sloppily with an element of danger and uncertainty and unpredictability.’ And we mean it, and we’re sweaty, and it hurts on stage at times. It worked. So that became a template for what we’re doing now.”

Nine Inch Nails have this North American tour booked for the fall.

[via Stereogum.com]