“He didn’t want the association with hair metal”: Richie Kotzen explains why Trent Reznor backed out of hiring him as Nine Inch Nails’ guitarist
If you want a versatile guitarist, Richie Kotzen is your guy. From meaty hard rock to intricate prog, Kotzen’s abilities span far and wide – and his skills nearly earned him a place in Nine Inch Nails.
Speaking to Hot Metal, Kotzen reveals that he once auditioned to be join NIN in the early 2000s, likely during guitarist Robin Finck’s temporary stint in Guns N’ Roses.
“The closest band that I ever came to joining was Nine Inch Nails – and nobody knows that,” Kotzen says. “I was friendly with the bass player from Marilyn Manson (Jeordie White) who was playing in Nine Inch Nails. He said to me ‘listen, you’ve got to come down – we’re having a hard time finding a guitar player.’”
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When Kotzen trekked down to audition, he thoroughly impressed frontman Trent Reznor. The industrial rock pioneer essentially promised him the job on the spot. “Trent told me, ‘You’re by far the best guy that we’ve tried, love to have you in the band,’” Kotzen says. “‘I’m going to have my manager reach out to you!’”
“I left that day thinking ‘Wow, OK, I’m going to join another band!’” he continues. “And then a week went by… Then another week went by…”
Unfortunately, Kotzen would soon learn that he had not earned a place in NIN. “I ran into Jeordie and said ‘What happened?’” he recalls. “Jeordie said, ‘Basically he [Reznor] said he didn’t want to open up Rolling Stone magazine said see ‘Nine Inch Nails gets former Poison guitar player Richie Kotzen.’”
While his skills were exactly what the band were after, Reznor couldn’t overlook Kotzen’s musical background. “He didn’t want the association with a hair metal band in that camp,” Kotzen explains.
Rather than feeling offended, Kotzen understood the decision. “Aesthetically when you think about the fan base and then you think about how people would read into something, I can kinda could see that,” he admits. “I could see the point. I jokingly said ‘hey, I’ll do it under an alias!’”
In fact, Kotzen holds no bad blood, praising the industrial frontman. “I think [Reznor] is a genius,” he says. “I would have loved to have worked with him.”
Despite the rejection, the guitarist is also firmly proud of his past. “That wasn’t the first time that [being in the Poison] stopped me going in one direction or the other,” he adds. “[But] I have no regrets. I think we made a really great record.”
Kotzen has gone on to play a role in plenty of projects, most recently releasing his second Smith/Kotzen album, Black Light/White Noise, alongside Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
