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Trent Reznor and Maynard James Keenan are two iconic names in rock, and Keenan's A Perfect Circle bandmate Billy Howerdel was there the first time they met in person. In fact, he introduced them in the '90s.
Before they were in a band together, Howerdel worked as a sound engineer and guitar tech for acts like Tool, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Fishbone, and Guns N’ Roses.
“I brought Maynard to the New Orleans studio to meet Trent. I mean, they obviously knew who each other were, but they’d never met," he recalled during a chat with Consequence. “The first day I brought him in there, I remember Trent was literally on the floor with a PC spread out, putting circuit boards together and things like that. And I think it was the moment when Maynard goes, Oh, OK, this guy’s for real. This isn’t just some guy phoning it in with a pretty face and a couple of lucky songs. This is a guy who’s doing the work. That’s me imagining [what Maynard was thinking], ’cause I l know Maynard’s work ethic, and I know what things he values.”
“Trent was and still is a big inspiration, and kind of North Star, for what it is to be a writer, [as well as] a person looking at technology and how it incorporates into your world," he added. "I think it’s inspiring.”
Oh, to have been a fly on that wall.