Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor‘s involvement in helping score Leonardo Dicaprio‘s upcoming climate change film ‘Before The Flood‘ wasn’t just a paycheck or a favor. It turns out climate change is also an issue he cares deeply about, as he tells The Daily Beast in a new interview. Of course with the U.S. presidential election seeing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump insisting that climate change: “was created by and for the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive”—Reznor also has some pointed thoughts for the Republican platform. He commented of how climate change is currently perceived:
“Well, the fossil-fuel industry and the Republican agenda has done a masterful job of polarizing elements of the country and turned [climate change] into something where we’re debating its existence. Being the father of three small boys has changed my worldview quite radically. I don’t want them to inherit a place that we’ve ruined because we’re too fucking stupid to pay attention to these things.”
When asked specifically about Trump‘s current campaign, he offered:
“It is surreal. I’ll admit that I was entertained during the Republican debates and the whole process of whittling them down. It’s kind of fun to see a grenade go off and see these guys—I hate every one of them—be eliminated and humiliated. But it stopped being funny months ago. It’s sad to see the discourse be dragged this low. It’s absurd that this is even happening.”
He later said about Trump‘s influence on the American public should not make it into office:
“…Hopefully Trump will flame out any minute now, but the effect of him—or he himself—is not going to go away, and there’s going to be an awful lot of very energized followers. We all know they’re not going to say, “Well, let’s support Hillary because she’s the president now.” She’s walking into a terrible situation.”
Of course Reznor was also asked about the much-rumored new Nine Inch Nails album arriving before the year’s end, to which he responded:
“[Laughs] I am working on music right now. That’s all I can say!”
You can read a lot more from Reznor on his political views and thoughts on climate change at The Daily Beast. The ‘Before The Flood‘ soundtrack features contributions from Reznor, Atticus Ross, Mogwai and film composer Gustavo Santaolalla. It will be released on October 21st. The film will begin a limited run in theaters on the same day, followed by a television debut on the National Geographic Channel on October 30th.
