where did the name nine inch nails come from
Reznor chose the name "Nine Inch Nails" because it "abbreviated easily" rather than for "any literal meaning". The English letters NIN are also noted for their resemblance to the modern Hebrew characters of the Tetragrammaton.
Nine Inch Nails
Reznor chose the name "Nine Inch Nails" because it "abbreviated easily" rather than for "any literal meaning". Other rumored explanations have circulated, alleging that Reznor chose to reference Jesus' crucifixion with nine-inch spikes, or Freddy Krueger's nine-inch fingernails. The English letters NIN are also noted for their resemblance to the modern Hebrew characters of the Tetragrammaton. The Nine Inch Nails logo first appeared on the music video for their debut single, "Down in It". The logo was designed by Reznor and Gary Talpas, inspired by Tibor Kalman's typography on the Talking Heads album "Remain in Light". Talpas, a native of Cleveland, continued to design Nine Inch Nails packaging until 1997.
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Nine Inch Nails [SEP] Formation (1987–1988)
In 1987 in Cleveland, Ohio, Trent Reznor played keyboards in the Exotic Birds, a synthpop band managed by John Malm Jr. Reznor became friends with Malm, who informally became his manager when he left to work on his own music. At the time, Reznor was employed as an assistant engineer and janitor at Right Track Studios. Studio owner Bart Koster granted Reznor free access to the studio between bookings to record demos, commenting that it cost him nothing more than "a little wear on [his] tape heads". Reznor was unable to find a band that could articulate the material as he desired, so (inspired by Prince) he played all the instruments except drums himself.