Tapeworm was an American
side project
In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style.
Usually these projects emphasize ...
of
Nine Inch Nails which existed in various forms from 1995 to roughly 2004. Tapeworm never released any recordings, but was frequently referenced in interviews. The band started as a side-project between Nine Inch Nails frontman
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
and
live-band members Danny Lohner
Daniel Patrick “Danny” Lohner, frequently known as Renholdër, is an American musician. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project. He has also played for Methods of M ...
and
Charlie Clouser
Charles Alexander Clouser (born June 28, 1963) is an American keyboardist, composer, record producer, and remixer. He worked with Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, and is a composer for film and television; among his credits a ...
. Through the years the group expanded and evolved numerous times to include artists such as
Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusc ...
,
Atticus Ross
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...
, and
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music fro ...
, effectively turning the project into a
supergroup. After many years of rumors and expected release dates, Reznor announced the end of the project in 2004.
History
Tapeworm's genesis occurred during
Nine Inch Nails recording sessions following ''
The Downward Spiral
''The Downward Spiral'' is the second studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994 by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-destru ...
'' tours circa 1996. While working on Nine Inch Nails material,
Danny Lohner
Daniel Patrick “Danny” Lohner, frequently known as Renholdër, is an American musician. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project. He has also played for Methods of M ...
and
Charlie Clouser
Charles Alexander Clouser (born June 28, 1963) is an American keyboardist, composer, record producer, and remixer. He worked with Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, and is a composer for film and television; among his credits a ...
, both
Nine Inch Nails live band members, would often come up with ideas that Reznor felt did not fit in with his vision for the band. Tapeworm developed as an outlet for this material—a democratic group in which Lohner and Clouser could act as equals with Reznor, as opposed to Nine Inch Nails, in which Reznor maintained sole artistic control.
As time went on, Tapeworm evolved into a
supergroup, with guest musicians such as
Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusc ...
,
Page Hamilton
Page Hamilton (born May 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he ...
, and
Phil Anselmo
Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal vocalist best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down (band), Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records ...
recording material ostensibly to be used by the group. In 1999 Lohner reported that three tracks had been completed, and described the various materials featuring Anselmo as "heavy NIN-meets-Pantera" and "mellow
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
''-type songs", and the material featuring Keenan as "psychedelic, groove-oriented verses and anthemic choruses."
Tommy Victor
Thomas M. Victor (born 1961/1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for heavy metal band Prong, which he founded in New York City in 1986, as well as the guitarist for ...
recorded material with the band as well, and later told ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' that the continued delays on Tapeworm contributed to his decision to take a hiatus from music, as well as accusing Reznor of giving his Tapeworm guitar contribution to
Marilyn Manson.
In a statement issued to
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
, Reznor reflected on his collaborations with Keenan:
By 2001, long-time Nine Inch Nails collaborator
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music fro ...
had tracked "more than an album's worth" of demos. Moulder further described the rough tracks as "very unlike ''
The Fragile
''The Fragile'' is the third studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor ...
''" and were a deviation from most Nine Inch Nails material.
By 2002, Clouser had left Nine Inch Nails and was no longer associated with Tapeworm. The group, which now consisted of Reznor, Lohner, Keenan, and
Atticus Ross
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...
, booked time in a recording studio in hopes of producing an album. An official website, tapeworm.net (now offline), was created to showcase pictures from various recording sessions, including images of
Josh Freese behind a drum kit.
In September 2003, Lohner told ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' magazine that the album was "ready to
mix" but had been held up by legal issues stemming from conflicts between Reznor and Keenan's record labels. The Tapeworm material was reported numerous times as completion neared, most notably by
MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
and ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'', and was slated to be released on Reznor's
Nothing Records
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 ...
label.
Initial recording sessions for the band were staged in the
Nothing Studios in
, though were later reported as being moved to Southern Tracks Studios in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
In 2004, Reznor announced that Tapeworm was "dead for the foreseeable future", citing label issues, Keenan's
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ...
obligations, and Reznor's own waning enthusiasm for the project. Reznor summarized the project's demise by saying "the bottom line is this: if the music had been great, all of this probably could have been worked out."
During an interview with
digg
Digg, stylized in lowercase as digg, is an American news aggregator with a curated front page, aiming to select stories specifically for the Internet audience such as science, trending political issues, and viral Internet issues. It was launch ...
founder
Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk. He also served as production assistant and co-host at TechTV's ''The Screen Savers''. From 2012 to 2015, he was a venture partner at GV.
Earl ...
in 2009, Reznor further commented that he thought the material was not as good as could have been given his and Keenan's respective backgrounds and it was unlikely that the material would ever surface, but went on to say that he would like for the two of them to work together again at some point in the future.
Contributors
Musicians who have been cited as recording material for Tapeworm, in alphabetical order:
*
Dimebag Darrell
Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside hi ...
( Pantera, Damageplan
Damageplan was an American heavy metal band from Dallas, Texas, formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Diesel ...
)
*
Phil Anselmo
Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal vocalist best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down (band), Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records ...
( Pantera, Down, Superjoint Ritual
Superjoint, formerly known as Superjoint Ritual, was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band.
History
The band was formed by Phil Anselmo, Joe Fazzio, and Jimmy Bower in the early 1990s, later to be joined by Hank Williams III and Kevi ...
)
*
Charlie Clouser
Charles Alexander Clouser (born June 28, 1963) is an American keyboardist, composer, record producer, and remixer. He worked with Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, and is a composer for film and television; among his credits a ...
( Nine Inch Nails)
*
Jerome Dillon
Jerome Dillon is a professional musician, best known for his tenure as drummer with industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails from 1999–2005. After his departure, his own project, Nearly, released its debut album ''reminder'' in December 2005, ...
( Nine Inch Nails, Modwheelmood
Modwheelmood (also typeset as ModWheelMood or modwheelmood and abbreviated as MWM) is an American Electronic-Alternative band from Los Angeles, California formed by Alessandro Cortini (who is also part of the Nine Inch Nails live lineup from 20 ...
)
*
Robin Finck
Robert John "Robin" Finck (born November 7, 1971) is an American guitarist. Finck is the longest-serving touring musician for Nine Inch Nails, performing with the band from 1994 to 2000, and returning in 2008. With Nine Inch Nails, Finck contribu ...
( Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
)
*
Josh Freese ( Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ...
, Devo, The Vandals
The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...
)
*
Toni Halliday
Antoinette "Toni" Halliday (born 5 July 1964) is an English musician best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist, and occasional guitarist of the alternative rock band Curve, along with Dean Garcia.
She was also a member of the bands Photofitz ...
(Curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...
)
*
Page Hamilton
Page Hamilton (born May 18, 1960) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he ...
(Helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
)
*
Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusc ...
(Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
, A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ...
, Puscifer
Puscifer () is an American rock group formed in Los Angeles by Maynard James Keenan, known as the lead singer of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle. Initially, Keenan was the only permanent member, and as such he considered the project to be h ...
)
*
Danny Lohner
Daniel Patrick “Danny” Lohner, frequently known as Renholdër, is an American musician. He worked with Trent Reznor on numerous occasions, both with Nine Inch Nails and on the now defunct Tapeworm project. He has also played for Methods of M ...
( Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ...
, Black Light Burns
Black Light Burns is an American industrial rock band fronted by Wes Borland. Founded in 2005 after Borland departed Limp Bizkit, the band's lineup also includes Nick Annis, Dennis Sanders and Dylan Taylor. Their debut album, '' Cruel Melody'' ...
, Skrew
Skrew is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1990 and disbanded in 1998, the group announced its return in 2009.
Biography
Skrew was formed in 1990 in Austin, Texas, by Adam Grossman and Danny Lohner. The band emerged from the de ...
)
*
Alan Moulder
Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer.
Early life
Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music fro ...
(producer)
*
Richard Patrick
Richard Michael Patrick (born May 10, 1968) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is the frontman for the rock band Filter and a founding member of the supergroups Army of Anyone and The Damning Well, and has served as a touring g ...
( Nine Inch Nails, Filter
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
, Army of Anyone)
*
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...
( Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels)
*
Atticus Ross
Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...
( Nine Inch Nails, 12 Rounds, Error
An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'.
In statistics ...
, How to Destroy Angels)
*
Erik Schrody (House of Pain
House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...
)
*
Tommy Victor
Thomas M. Victor (born 1961/1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for heavy metal band Prong, which he founded in New York City in 1986, as well as the guitarist for ...
(Prong
Prong or Prongs may refer to:
* Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects
* Prong (band), an American metal band
* Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City
* Prongs, British ...
, Danzig, Ministry
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian ...
)
*
Chris Vrenna
Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails ...
( Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, Die Warzau
Die Warzau (originally Die Warzau Synfony) was an American industrial music band formed in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie.
History
In the late 80s, Jim Marcus and Van Christie were working individually as performance artists. Christie ha ...
)
*
Alexander Wilke-Steinhof ( Atari Teenage Riot)
Songs
Only two songs, "Vacant" and "Potions," have ever been identified as Tapeworm songs. Neither has been released, though
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s by Maynard James Keenan's other projects have surfaced. The first, "Vacant" was initially conceived during the Tapeworm sessions; the track being written by Lohner and re-arranged by Clouser, with lyrics and melody by Keenan and chorus and backing vocals by Reznor.
The song was first performed live by A Perfect Circle throughout their 2001 tour.
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
reported that Reznor was apparently not happy that Keenan performed the song: "I have to admit I find it mildly irritating for "Vacant" to debut in this fashion before feeling it has been properly realized,"
Shortly after the dissolution of the Tapeworm project, Keenan released a reworked version on A Perfect Circle's 2004 cover album ''
Emotive'' under the title "
Passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of o ...
".
Another side-project of Maynard James Keenan,
Puscifer
Puscifer () is an American rock group formed in Los Angeles by Maynard James Keenan, known as the lead singer of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle. Initially, Keenan was the only permanent member, and as such he considered the project to be h ...
, released an album titled ''
"C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE)'' with a song, "Potions (Deliverance Mix)," which had writing credits given to Trent Reznor.
In response to rumors that Keenan released a Tapeworm song without any changes made, a blog was posted on the home page of the mai
Puscifer websiteon November 18, 2009 saying that:
Later Keenan delved further into the issue on his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account only nine hours after the initial blog had been posted. Keenan essentially confirmed the song's origins in the Tapeworm project while also confirming that the song was covered and released by Puscifer in the same fashion as A Perfect Circle did with "Passive," saying the following:
References
External links
nin.com− official Nine Inch Nails website
A Perfect Circle.com– official A Perfect Circle website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapeworm
American rock music groups
American supergroups
Musical groups established in 1995
Musical groups disestablished in 2004
Rock music supergroups