NIN Man Rules "Underworld"
Rollingstone.com - Sept. 2003
Danny Lohner learned from Trent Reznor
When the producers of the new vampire thriller Underworld offered the Nine Inch Nails' Danny Lohner the opportunity to compile the film's soundtrack, Lohner had no experience. But he did have a good teacher.
"I've been around [NIN frontman] Trent [Reznor] when he's done Lost Highway and Natural Born Killers, and I thought, 'I'd love to have a stab at that,'" Lohner says.
Reznor would be proud. For the Underworld album, Lohner attracted the likes of David Bowie, Wes Borland, Helmet's Page Hamilton, Filter's Richard Patrick, Tool's Maynard James Keenan and Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano.
"[Director Len Wiseman] was super cool and it turns out his favorite bands were NIN and Tool, so he was right in line with where my head space was," Lohner says. "The idea was to try and do a cool soundtrack, put some moody stuff in there, some aggressive stuff, and assemble a lot of cool artists that I knew."
Thanks to his time with Reznor and being what he calls a "backseat" guy to acts like Rob Zombie and Everlast, Lohner knows a lot of cool artists. He and Bowie, who contributed the song "Bring me the Head of the Disco King," became friends when Nine Inch Nails opened for Bowie on tour several years ago. "We've maintained a friendship ever since the mid-Nineties," Lohner says. "I called him up and I was like, 'Hey, do you have anything laying around that you've done and I could take a vocal from?' He's like, 'Oh yeah,' and he just shot out some vocals to me."
Lohner then rebuilt the track, adding guitars from the Chili Peppers' John Frusciante and backing vocals by Keenan. The Tool frontman is a ubiquitous presence on the album, as part of both A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, which happens to feature Lohner. "Puscifer's our side project," Lohner explains. "We've never released anything before, but this is a vehicle to actually be able to put one of those songs out."
Lohner also co-wrote tracks with Napolitano, Milla Jovovich, Sarah Bettens of K's Choice, and the Damning Well, which features Patrick, Borland, Lohner and Josh Freese. The supergroup recorded four tracks (including two with Evanescence singer Amy Lee that were shelved because of contractual issues), but "Awakening" is the only one that appears on the new disc.
"We're all big Tool and Radiohead fans," Lohner says, "and we're more following the path set by people like that, or even Nine Inch Nails. It kind of draws outside the box, yet still has that catchy element to it to reel you in."
He and Borland met at a Guitar Center store, and the two are continuing to write new material, because, Lohner says, "It's coming so quickly and we're having fun. We're going to save those songs and put them out in some fashion, whether it be a soundtrack or future album."
And though the early returns on Underworld are good, Lohner's still awaiting the final decision about his future in soundtrack work. Modestly he says, "Hopefully they'll let me do another."
Underworld soundtrack track listing:
"Awakening," The Damning Well
"REV 22:20," Puscifer
"Throwing Punches," Page Hamilton
"Rocket Collecting," Milla Jovavich
"Now I Know," Renholder
"Bring Me the Head of Disco King (Loner Mix)," David Bowie (featuring Maynard James Keenan and John Frusciante)
"Optimissed," Skinny Puppy
"Down in the Lab," Renholder
"Judith (Renholder Mix)," A Perfect Circle
"Suicide Note," Johnette Napolitano
"Baby's First Coffin," Dillinger Escape Plan
"Hover (Quiet Mix)," Trust Company
"Falling Through The Sky," Renholder
"Weak and Powerless (Tilling My Grave Mix)," A Perfect Circle
"Worms of the Earth," Finch
"From a Shell," Lisa Germano
"Death Dealer's Descent," Renholder
"On the Lash," the Icarus Line
"All of This Past," Sarah Bettens
