Trent Reznor has worked since at least 1988.
Trent Reznor . His first release under this pseudonym , the 1989 album Pretty Hate Machine , was a commercial and critical success . Reznor was associated with the bands Option 30 , The Urge , The Innocent , and Exotic Birds in the mid-1980s . In 1997 , Reznor appeared in Time list of the year 's most influential people , while Spin magazine has described him as `` the most vital artist in music '' .