Ongoing History Daily: Trent Renzor’s little-known past

Trent Reznor has evolved from just helming Nine Inch Nails to an award-winning composer for film and video games. But if you dig deep into his past, you’ll see that his resume contains much more than that. Growing up in the Cleveland area, he was part of a string of New Wave-ish and techno-pop adjacent bands that had more in common with Depeche Mode and Human League—and occasionally, Bon Jovi—than anyone else.

There was The Innocent, Exotic Birds, Slam Bamboo, a covers band called The Urge, Option, 30, and Lucky Pierre. If you search online, you can find some of the recorded output of some of these groups. Before you do, though, prepare yourself. It may not be what you expect.