Waters: I actually think you’re fighting a losing battle, trying to recreate anything like the experience of being at a rock and roll show with a DVD. Basically, they’re home movies. I regret not having made home movies of the Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and Radio KAOS tours. And so I’m glad I will have a home movie of 2000 In The Flesh tour. I want to have it to put in a cupboard somewhere and maybe show it to my grandchildren. But I don’t know if it’s something that interests me that much, I have to say. I don’t really care about it. Frankly, I’d rather be fishing. Or reading. But you know, I’m 56 years old. How old are you?
Reznor: 35.
Waters: So it’s kind of relative. There’s 21 years’ difference. I might have cared more when I was 35. Not that I’m saying you will eventually achieve fishing.
Reznor: I’m looking forward to it, actually.
Waters: But from the tenor of this conversation, it sounds like you’re more involved with this stuff than I am.
Reznor: I suppose I can’t help it. My first record came out 10 years ago. It unexpectedly touched a nerve. The second record got 10 times bigger than we ever expected it. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It propelled us 20 levels higher than we should have been, really.
Waters: You mean 20 levels more popular.
Reznor: Yeah. You find yourself being referenced by popular culture now.
Waters: Well, you do. But you can either choose to reference yourself like that, or not. And we all chose to do that, to a certain extent. If you’re in rock and roll, you have to accept that part of the reason why you’re there is because you like being patted on the back. Probably didn’t get enough of it when you were a kid. That’s certainly true of me. If we didn’t have those needs we couldn’t be in rock and roll anyway.
Reznor: That’s true. But I disappeared for five years to get my brain staightened out. I came back with a really dense double album that I think is the best I can do. But it’s substantially different from what I’ve done in the past. It’s not as obvious. And it sold well, but it didn’t sell great. So now I’m settling into this… When I first started out, I’d ride around the country in a van 10 times if I needed to. I’d do interviews all day if I needed to…
Waters: But you sound confused by this, slightly.
Reznor: Well, I’m getting over teh hump of realizing that I’m settling into what is right for me, artistically. But i might not be as accessable for mass consumption.
Waters: Well, okay. So it’s not. So you’ve recognized that. All you need to do is recognize that and then forget about it. Because it’s controllable. I think the one thing you have to understand is that you can’t go chasing the audience. That would be a living death for anyone who is serious about what they do. It sounds like you’re agonzing about this stuff. And this is now me being wise after the event. I’ve been through the same agonies but at the end of the day, I’ve had to understand that all you can do is your work. Maybe nobody will buy any of it. That could happen. You might make a record five years down the road and four people will buy it, you know?
Reznor: Right.
Waters: Modigliani never sold any pictures. Van Gogh peddled his pictures for a bowl of soup. Some of these geniuses never got any reward at all in thier lifetimes. Except the reward that comes from doing your work and understanding your connection with the mathematics of life, or God, or whatever you want to call it.
Reznor: That’s obvious to me. But its really nice to hear you say that.
Waters: I’ve been through some of the same things, clearly. I’ve had a couple of big hit singles in my life, when I was with Pink Floyd. And I feel good about the work that I’ve done since then, particularly Amused to Death. I’ve sold a few records. Not big numbers, but thats just the way it is. The cool thing in the moment when you put that last brush stroke to the painting, stand back and go “Ahhh.” You know you’ve done good work. That’s all you can expect.
Revolver: All these concerns about how your work is received by the public - do they become more acute, more stressful, when you’re touring?
Waters: Not any more for me. On my last tour the audiences were ages 15 through 50. But more 20 year olds than anything else, as far as I could see. And they knew the songs. They like them. The songs have meaning to them. It was kind of a warm, touchy-feely experience for me. And I’m ashamed to say that I loved it. I’m now in a state emotionally where I can recognize, absorb, and enjoy that connection with the audience. Whereas maybe 10 or 15 years ago, I couldn’t. Because I was still essentially the tall guy in black, standing in the corner scowling at everyone: “Stay away. Leave me alone”
Reznor: I know that guy.