TRENT REZNOR Breaks Silence On TAPEWORM Project

TAPEWORM, the much-anticipated side project of NINE INCH NAILS frontman Trent Reznor and TOOL/A PERFECT CIRCLE singer Maynard James Keenan, are completing work on an album's worth of material "that started as one idea and have mutated and grown into another altogether," Reznor said in a statement issued to MTV News. "Musically, the results are becoming much more song-oriented than I would have thought."

"It has been an interesting experiment for Maynard and I to peek around in each other's heads, shining flashlights in some shadowy corners," Trent said. "We've realized we're each in somewhat similar places in our respective lives and outlook, so it's been great to collaborate on that level."

In the works for several years, TAPEWORM also include in their ranks NINE INCH NAILS guitarist Danny Lohner and 12 ROUNDS bassist/drummer/keyboardist Atticus Ross. While ex-NIN keyboardist/programmer Charles Clouser has worked with TAPEWORM in the past, he's no longer involved.

"TAPEWORM provides me the opportunity to work with some people I respect immensely in a democratic environment," Reznor said.

Up until now, TAPEWORM has essentially been a collaborative studio project centered at Reznor's New Orleans studio, where Keenan recorded the vocal track for the song "Vacant" in 1999. The music for "Vacant" was written by Lohner and rearranged by Clouser, with lyrics and melody by Keenan and chorus and backing vocals by Reznor.

"Vacant" had been performed live regularly during A PERFECT CIRCLE's debut tour, a move that had annoyed Reznor, who made his feelings clear at the time in a post on NIN's official web site. "I have to admit I find it mildly irritating for ['Vacant'] to debut in this fashion before feeling it has been properly realized," Reznor wrote.

No further information is currently available about TAPEWORM's recording or touring activities, but a debut album is still expected to surface through Nothing Records at some point in the not-too-distant future.