Nothing Records was an American record label specializing in industrial rock and electronic music, founded by John Malm Jr. and Trent Reznor in 1992. It is considered an example of a vanity label, where an artist is able to run a label with some small degree of independence within a larger parent company, in this case the larger company being Interscope Records.
Nothing Records went largely defunct in 2004, after a lawsuit by Reznor against John Malm. The label became inactive as a whole following several further releases; 2007's Beside You in Time music video was the label's final release.
Background
Nothing Records is most famous for its two original signings, Trent Reznor's own band Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson.
The label gained semi-iconic status within the industrial rock scene, and even acquired its own online-fanzine in Sick Among the Pure, although this later became a more general industrial fanzine, and ceased to exist at all in 2005. The Nothing label would often reward its fanbase over the Internet — one form of this outreach was Radio Nothing: an exclusive collection of free MP3 music streams, compiled by Nothing label artists, producers and fans.
In September 2004, coinciding with Trent Reznor leaving New Orleans for the west coast, the Nine Inch Nails website announced "nothing studios: 1994-2004", suggesting that Nothing Studios was closed. This later proved to be the end of the associated record label as well. Speculation among listeners that the label could continue ceased when Reznor successfully sued co-founder John Malm for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty (amongst others), ensuring that the Nothing era was over.
In a May 5, 2005 post to nin.com, Trent wrote, "To be clear: my involvement with Nothing Records is over. Is Nothing Records alive or an entity? You'd have to ask John Malm (we're not really speaking that much these days) ... Nothing studios is still in New Orleans and I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I'll figure that out when I finish touring."
While With Teeth and its following singles carry the Nothing Records logo, Reznor has publicly stated that this was at the insistence of John Malm.
Beside You In Time (February 2007) was the last release to carry the Nothing Records logo on its packaging. The logo also appears in the end credits.
The "Survivalism" single is the first Nine Inch Nails release not to be released with the Nothing Records logo.
Since early 2004, the official website, NothingRecords.com, has been closed down.
Artists
thumb|right|[[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson in 1995, performing during the label's "A Night of Nothing" showcase of Nothing Records acts.]]
In addition to Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, the label also signed and released albums from 2wo, Pig, Pop Will Eat Itself, Prick, 12 Rounds, Einstürzende Neubauten, The<!--not a mistake--> The, and Meat Beat Manifesto. Additionally, Coil was under contract for a record but it was never delivered (though some of the songs from the slated Nothing album appeared in reworked form on The Ape of Naples and The New Backwards). The album Backwards was eventually released in 2015 by Cold Spring Records. John Bergin was also signed briefly under the name Trust Obey, but the album he recorded ("Hands of Ash") was instead released in 1996 on Fifth Colvmn Records with a sticker that quoted Reznor's reaction to the completed work: "Not a great commercial potential."
Nothing also distributed music from Warp Records, Sheffield, England's venerable electronic music label, under an exclusive license in the U.S., with albums by Autechre, Plaid, and Squarepusher (although Warp's Aphex Twin appeared on the Further Down the Spiral release, he was already under a contract with Sire Records in the U.S. at the time). This distribution deal ended when Warp expanded operations into the U.S. market in 2001. Nothing also managed to secure the U.S. release of two albums from England's Blue Planet Recordings. The two albums were slightly different than the UK releases. Plug's "Drum and Bass for Papa" included an extra disc of tracks from earlier EPs, and The Bowling Green's "One Pound Note" omitted one track from the UK release due to problems with sample clearance.
1992-94: Early years
Nothing Records was founded by Trent Reznor and his former manager John Malm Jr. in 1992. Amid pressure from Nine Inch Nails' then-label TVT to produce a follow-up to Pretty Hate Machine, Reznor began to feel the label was hindering his control of the band and requested to terminate their contract, to which they ignored his plea. In response, Reznor secretly began recording under various pseudonyms to avoid record company interference. TVT ultimately put together a deal with Interscope Records (then part of Atlantic Records), in which they would still retain some financial stake, while Reznor worked creatively under a new label. However, Interscope President Jimmy Iovine looked to allow him more creative freedom. Reznor stated:
Part of the deal included allowing Reznor the run his own boutique label under the Interscope umbrella, which became Nothing Records. Reznor and Malm began a series of signings to the label, which included the likes of Marilyn Manson, Coil, Prick, Trust Obey, Pop Will Eat Itself and Mondo Vanilli. Reznor stated of the label, "The whole thing I want to do right now is provide a shell to other bands where they can have the benefit of a major label without being fucked with creatively in any way. Let them do what they want to do, make them aware of the business side of things how the money is spent." The label would go on to set up offices in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City, with a recording studio, Nothing Studios, in New Orleans.
Nine Inch Nails (Broken era)
The first release bearing the label's name was Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP. Released September 22, 1992, the EP marked their major label debut and consisted entirely of new material, departing from the electronica and synthpop style of Pretty Hate Machine and instead presenting a considerably heavier sound, which would act as a precursor for Nine Inch Nails' acclaimed second studio album, The Downward Spiral. The EP originally included a bonus 3" CD or 7" vinyl, depending which format was purchased, featuring two bonus songs; a cover of the Adam and the Ants song "Physical" and "Suck," a reworked version of a song Trent originally recorded with Pigface. Later pressings of the release merged these tracks as a single release, although a 2017 vinyl repress by the band once again pressed them as a separate 7".
The Broken film accompanied the EP, directed by Coil's Peter Christopherson. Reznor recalled, "Making the Broken movie was a lot of fun. There was no label involvement or pressure from anyone, it was just he (Christopherson) and I talking. At the completion of filming, Christopherson felt the footage was so realistic, he informed Reznor, "I'm going to send it to you, but it's going to show up in a paper bag unmarked because there could be ... I'm not sure I want the authorities knowing this came from me."
Contributing to the band's growing mainstream success, the EP sold well upon release, peaking at number 7 on the Billboard 200 charts and eventually going platinum "Wish" won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, as did "Happiness in Slavery" (live performance at Woodstock '94) in 1996. Despite their increasing commercial success, Trent opted against touring in support of the EP, choosing instead to remain at work in the studio.
A companion remix EP, Fixed, was released on December 7, 1992 and featured remixes from the band, as well as J. G. Thirlwell of Foetus, Butch Vig of Garbage and future Nothing label-mates Coil. An additional Butch Vig remix of "Last" was omitted from the EP, although the outro can be heard on "Throw This Away." The complete Vig remix circulated on the Internet as a bootleg file, until Reznor finally released it at remix.nin.com. Vig later addressed the reason for its omission, stating "I started recording a lot of new parts, and took it in a much different direction. When it was finished, Trent thought the front part of the mix didn't fit the EP, so he just used the ending. I'm glad it's on his website. Duke and Steve worked with me on the remix, in the very early days of Garbage."
Nine Inch Nails (The Downward Spiral era)
After Broken, Reznor began recording Nine Inch Nails' full-length debut for the Nothing / Interscope Records label, the seminal sophomore album, The Downward Spiral. For the recording of Broken, Reznor had moved into 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, where actress Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family. He named the home studio "Le Pig". Reznor would record The Downward Spiral at Le Pig, co-producing it with Flood. The recordings were inspired by concept albums such as David Bowie's Low and Pink Floyd's The Wall. Guitarist Richard Patrick had left the band after touring completed for Pretty Hate Machine, moving on to form his own band, Filter. Adrian Belew would take over guitar duties for much of the album, while Robin Finck would become the full-time guitarist for the band.
The first single from the album, "March of the Pigs," was released on February 25, 1994. The single featured remixes by Dave Ogilvie, as well as an exclusive instrumental, entitled "A Violet Fluid". A pair of music videos for the song were also shot. The first version was ultimately scrapped, while the second and final version was directed by Coil's Peter Christopherson. Portions of the original, incomplete video eventually surfaced as part of an online, DVD disc image version of the Closure DVD in 2006, which surfaced on BitTorrent website The Pirate Bay.
The Downward Spiral was released on March 8, 1994. The album was an immediate success, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200 with sales of nearly 119,000 copies in its first week. It also garnered wide, critical acclaim, helping elevate Nine Inch Nails into one of the most successful rock acts of the 1990s. "Closer" became the second single for the album, released on May 30, 1994. The single included remixes from Nothing Records acts Coil and Meat Beat Manifesto, as well as an exclusive cover of Soft Cell's "Memorabilia." A music video for "Closer" was directed by Mark Romanek. Despite undergoing heavy censorship for television and radio airplay, the song received major airplay, becoming one of the biggest hits of NIN's career. The uncensored version of the music video was eventually released in 1997 on the band's Closure home video. "Piggy" and "Hurt" were both released as promotional singles to radio and received regular airplay. Nine Inch Nails also recorded a pair of exclusive songs for soundtracks. A cover of Joy Division's "Dead Souls was released on the soundtrack to The Crow, while an original track, "Burn," was recorded for the Natural Born Killers soundtrack. The latter also filmed a music video and the soundtrack was released on Nothing Records. A remix of "Closer" was also used in the opening credits to the David Fincher film Seven.
The album was promoted with the extensive Self Destruct Tour, which featured opening Nothing Records acts Marilyn Manson, Pop Will Eat Itself and Pig during various legs. Danny Lohner would join the band as full-time bassist for the tour. The tour included a set at Woodstock '94, which was broadcast on pay-per-view and featured the band performing while covered in mud. The performance went on to become one of the most famous of the band's career. In 1995, Nine Inch Nails embarked on a tour with David Bowie, with Nothing Records act Prick supporting as guest openers.
A companion remix album, Further Down the Spiral, was released in on June 1, 1995, which once again included contributions from Nothing act Coil, as well as Rick Rubin, J. G. Thirlwell and some original interludes by Aphex Twin. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 26, 1996, denoting sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the US.
Nine Inch Nails released the double VHS collection Closure on November 25, 1997. The first half documented the Self-Destruct Tour, while the second half compiled all of the band's music videos to that point. A DVD release was planned at one point, but never came to fruition. Instead, in 2006, an unofficial version was released on a DVD disc image and distributed via BitTorrent at The Pirate Bay by an anonymous user called "seed0." It is widely believed by fans that Reznor himself was behind the 2006 leaks, as implied by a post on his official blog: "12/21/06 : Happy Holidays! This one is a guilt-free download. (shhhh - I didn't say that out loud). If you know what I'm talking about, cool." The Downward Spiral has been regarded by music critics and audiences as one of the most important albums of the 1990s and was praised for its abrasive, eclectic nature and dark themes, although it was scrutinized by social conservatives for its lyrics. For its tenth anniversary, the album was remastered and re-released on November 23, 2004 in high-resolution Super Audio CD (SACD) and DualDisc formats, with a second disc collecting many b-sides and rarities. In 2017, the band reissued the album on vinyl.
Marilyn Manson (Portrait era)
In the months following the momentum of The Downward Spiral, the next release from the label came from Marilyn Manson. One of the earliest signings to the label, Marilyn Manson first met Reznor in 1990, while enrolled as a student at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Warner was working towards a degree in journalism and gaining experience in the field by writing articles for a music magazine, 25th Parallel. One of his interviews for the magazine was with Reznor. Manson also performed as a local opener for Nine Inch Nails in July 1990 with his band, then known as Marilyn Manson and The Spooky Kids, at Club Nu in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (a show which also included future Nothing Records act Meat Beat Manifesto). Manson wound up giving Reznor a tape of his material.
Upon forming the Nothing Records imprint, Reznor called Manson and offered to sign him to the label, alongside an opening slot supporting Nine Inch Nails on their upcoming "Self Destruct Tour". At the time, Manson's band had been fielding offers from numerous record companies, including Madonna's Maverick label. Given the promise of total artistic freedom, the band opted to sign to Nothing Records.
Recording sessions for their debut studio album began in July 1993 with producer (and former Swans drummer) Roli Mosimann at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. Recording a selection of new songs, along with material from their Spooky Kids repertoire, the first version of their debut, titled The Manson Family Album, was completed by the end of September. However, it was not well received. The band's members, along with Reznor, felt Mosimann's production was flat, lifeless and poorly representative of the band's live performances. Seeking a more raw sound, Reznor agreed to rework production of The Manson Family Album in October 1993 at Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles. After seven weeks of mixing and re-recording, the album, retitled Portrait of an American Family, was presented to Nothing's parent label Interscope. The song "Filth" was dropped from the revised album, while the songs "Prelude (The Family Trip)" and "Wrapped In Plastic" were added. The song "Citronella" was renamed "Dogma". Several other minor musical and lyrical differences exist throughout the two versions, such as fewer Charles Manson samples being included in the song "My Monkey".
Upon delivery of the album, Interscope was receiving a lot of negative press for the content of artists on another label they were housing at the time, Death Row Records, and expressed some reservations about releasing the album, which they anticipated could be controversial. Reznor threatened to take the album to another label if necessary, at which time Interscope agreed to release it, on the condition that the band remove some photos from the album sleeve. The album's original cover art featured no text, simply a painting of a clown by John Wayne Gacy (the Gacy painting was later used as album art by the band Acid Bath for the album When the Kite String Pops in 1994). The sleeve photography included Polaroid pictures (faked by Manson and friends) of a mutilated female body, and a photo of what Manson described as "one of those dolls from the 60s and you pull a string on the back of it and the eyes get really big and they change colors." Manson also intended to use a picture of himself as a child sitting nude on a couch in the album's interior artwork. Though no genitalia was shown in the picture and it was taken by his own parents with no vulgar intent, the record label feared it would be misunderstood as child pornography. The ideas of using the Gacy artwork and the nude photos were ultimately dropped and, after a few months delay, the album was released on Nothing Records on July 19, 1994 and peaked at number thirty-five on Billboards Top Heatseekers album chart, establishing the band as rising stars and a commercial success.
Originally, their song "Snake Eyes And Sissies" from Mosimann's The Manson Family Album sessions was intended to be the band's first single, with a single edit having been created. However, after the Reznor sessions, the album was instead led by the single "Get Your Gunn", followed by "Lunchbox" and "Dope Hat". The album was certified Gold on May 29, 2003 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States.
Natural Born Killers Soundtrack
During this time, in addition to recording with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson for the label, Reznor also worked on the soundtrack to Oliver Stone's controversial 1994 film, Natural Born Killers. Reznor oversaw the structure of the soundtrack, which included audio collages from the film and aimed to recreate the style the film itself. Reznor worked on the soundtrack using a portable Pro Tools in his hotel room. Reznor received a producer credit, but did not select the artists chosen for it (which was done by music supervisor Budd Carr). The soundtrack originally included the songs "A Warm Place" and "Something I Can Never Have" by Nine Inch Nails. A new composition from the band, "Burn", was recorded for the soundtrack, with a music video shot in the style of the film (although it was not directed by Stone). Reznor said of the experience:
The resulting soundtrack blended both previously released and unreleased material, spanning the genres of rock, punk, world music, country, hip-hop and more. It was released on August 23, 1994 to commercial and critical success. To date, the soundtrack has sold over 500,000 copies in the United States, making it a gold record. It was also named third best compilation album of 1995 by New Musical Express (December 24, 1994), and one of the "90 Best Albums of the 1990s" by Q magazine (December 1, 1999).
Nine Inch Nails' video for "Burn" was later included on the home video release of the Natural Born Killers: Director's Cut on VHS and laserdisc, but omitted from subsequent editions, such as DVD and blu-ray. The bonus features on the home video editions of the director's cut also included a behind-the-scenes featurette, in which Oliver Stone recollects his experiences working with Reznor on the film.
Pop Will Eat Itself
Capping off a successful year in 1994 at Nothing Records was the arrival of Pop Will Eat Itself, who were licensed by the label for Stateside release. Already established in the UK by the late 1980s, the band (sometimes referred to as PWEI or The Poppies) had a growing fanbase, with albums such as Box Frenzy, This Is the Day ... This Is the Hour ... This Is This!, Cure for Sanity and The Looks or the Lifestyle?. The latter album peaked at UK No. 15 and featured the Top 30 hit singles "Karmadrome" and "Bulletproof!" Despite healthy sales and successful touring, by January 1993, a shake-up at their longtime label RCA would lead to the band's biggest supporters leaving the company. The remaining executives did not understand the band or their music, suggesting that EMF 'write a hit' for them at one meeting. The band was dropped from the label before their "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!" single was released. It went on to peak at number 9 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's biggest hit to date, also making them, at that time, the highest charting act to ever appear on Top of The Pops without a record deal.
In the wake of the RCA shake-up, Pop Will Eat Itself moved to Infectious Records in the UK. A call between PWEI and Nine Inch Nails management would lead to Nothing Records picking up licensing rights for the band in the United States. Former frontman Clint Mansell (who shared songwriting and vocal duties with Graham Crabb) recalled:
Dos Dedos Mis Amigos was released on September 19, 1994 on Nothing Records. It marked a change in direction for the band, which had, until that time, featured a sound that blended hip-hop, electronic and alternative influences. Dos Dedos Mis Amigos took on a heavier, industrial rock sound. It was led by the singles "Ich Bin Ein Auslander", "Everything's Cool", "R.S.V.P." and "Underbelly". "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" was accompanied by a music video, which received some airplay on MTV. Around this same time, the band had a high-profile collaboration with The Prodigy, on the track "Their Law" from the album Music for the Jilted Generation. Dos Dedos Mis Amigos peaked at No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart and their single "Everything's Cool" became their ninth Top 30 UK hit. Sirius described the band as "a virtual reality band that would proudly lip-synch, or maybe not, even pretend to play live music on stage - perhaps we would exist totally in virtuality - or else we would do other, more original types of performance to our music." Sirius was backed by members Scrappi DüChamp, with whom he had collaborated on previous musical projects and would compose most of the music - and Simone Third Arm, a performance artist introduced to Sirius early into the project's inception.
Mondo Vanilli's involvement with Nothing Records came about through a chance meeting at Reznor's then-home at 10050 Cielo Drive, the site of the infamous Tate murders by members of the Manson Family in 1969. Sirius, a Northern California resident, had left Mondo 2000 three months prior and was visiting Los Angeles with some promotional Mondo Vanilli booklets and demo tapes, to shop them around the L.A. music scene. Sirius had been invited as a guest of Timothy Leary to a housewarming party at the grounds. The day after the party, Reznor expressed interest in the band and discussed a deal singing them to Nothing Records. When the contract arrived, however, the band expressed some reservations. Sirius stated: