Trent Reznor Quotes

There are certain choices you make as a songwriter, based on vowel sounds and melody and chord changes.

But when you're six records deep, every record has one or two songs that need to be in every set, so you're already looking at 12 songs that you know you're going to play.

I don't like drums dictating the song; like when you hear a fill and then you know the chorus is coming up.

If you ever go to a music session, you'll notice that the musicians can sit down and start playing right away, and everyone knows what to do. Of course they're reading it, but the conductor can tweak little things, and you can take that back to directing motion pictures.

In order to make my solo shows as interesting as possible, I moved songs onto very different instruments so that I was moving instruments quite a lot during the set.

A melody without the right rhythm hardly exists.

At some shows, the set list gets changed while we are on stage. I know Ed thinks about the set very hard throughout the day in order to make the best show possible for the fans and for us.

You want the song to be at least at the same level of goodness throughout. Whereas with something you're doing live, a song dips and rises and that can actually be worked to the song's benefit.

If a song is longer than three and a half minutes, it'll need something to keep you entertained.

I go to see some big shows of other bands, and I feel like I'm so bombarded and over-stimulated that I lose interest in the music. There has to be light and shade, and less stimulating moments. There has to be an arc to the show.

The real challenge of writing songs isn't just writing a bunch of parts - like a verse, chorus, verse - but making something that flows together, that brings you back.

Conceptually, I've always gravitated towards arrangements that weren't just presenting one idea. I like to look at my songs as having a main part, an interlude, and almost like another song at the end.

We've never been a band that gets up on stage and says, 'OK, we're going to play our entire new album.' Of course we want to introduce new music, but we also want to play the songs people want to sing along with.

There's really an art form to putting together a set list that flows evenly and that takes you on a ride and doesn't feel disjointed.

A song sometimes ends up with its own internal logic.

When you make records, you gotta think about what's going to be happening at the concert.

One of the important things when you're making a record or doing a performance is the sequence of the songs. It really matters a lot because you want your project, your show, or your albums to sort of have a life.

Normally, when I write the setlist for a Dream Theater show, I'll change it up every night, and we can basically play whatever we want.

I'm definitely trying to make songs that people can sing along to and remember. If you can recognize a chorus and leave with it in your head, it's usually a good sign. But then with the verses, I can get a little more free form. I don't really like to copy and paste things.

Especially in repetitive music, to make a long piece of music you have to be extremely skilled in your sleight of hand. Just to make long form music it's very difficult and you really have to consider what you're putting someone through.

Time is the main subject for any musicians, music writers, composers.

But you know, I really like to present the songs on an album as a story, as something thematic, rather than something you'd put on a random shuffle.

That's where I think a lot of these guys today are just, 'I'm the drummer, man. Check it out. Here's my lick. I just learned this new drum lick. I'm just gonna blast all over the place.' It's like, 'Man, you've got to let the song breathe.'

I especially like the songs Hurry Up and The Curse Of Castle Dragon, and I often include them in my live show.

I recognize that there are some great things about not playing a song live, and just kind of piecing it together as you go.