\n<\/p>\n
Guitarist Richie Kotzen<\/strong> was once a member of the hair metal band Poison<\/strong>, and that was apparently a problem in the world of Nine Inch Nails<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In an interview with Hot Metal<\/em>, Kotzen<\/strong> reveals that he once got a call from then-Nine Inch Nails<\/strong> bassist Jeordie White<\/strong> asking him to come down and try out for the band. Nine Inch Nails<\/strong> mastermind Trent Reznor<\/strong> loved Kotzen<\/strong>‘s audition, and said the band’s management would reach out shortly.<\/p>\n “I was friendly with the bass player from Marilyn Manson<\/strong> [Jeordie White<\/strong>] who was playing in Nine Inch Nails<\/strong>. He said to me, ‘Listen, you’ve got to come down. We’re having a hard time finding a guitar player.’ So I went down to Third Encore and I spent the day. Trent<\/strong> told me, ‘You’re by far the best guy that we’ve tried. I would love to have you in the band. I’m gonna have my manager reach out to you.’ And I left that day thinking, ‘Wow, okay, I’m gonna join another band.”<\/p>\n But the call never came. Why? Because Kotzen<\/strong> used to be in Poison<\/strong>, and Reznor<\/strong> decided he didn’t want headlines saying that an ex-Poison<\/strong> member joined Nine Inch Nails.<\/p>\n “And then a week went by. And then another week went by. And I ran into Jeordie<\/strong> and I said, ‘What happened?’ He said, basically, [Reznor<\/strong>] said he didn’t wanna open up Rolling Stone<\/em> magazine said see ‘Nine Inch Nails<\/strong> gets former Poison<\/strong> guitar player Richie Kotzen<\/strong>‘. He didn’t want the association with a hair metal band in that camp.<\/p>\n “And, you know, aesthetically, when you think about the fanbase and you think about how people would read into something, I can kind of could see that; I could see the point. So I jokingly said, ‘Hey, I’ll do it under an alias,’ ’cause I wasn’t doing anything at the time and I think he’s, you know, a genius and I would have loved to have worked with him.”<\/p>\n I can see where Reznor<\/strong> is coming from, but eh\u2026 Kotzen<\/strong> was a member of Poison<\/strong> between 1991 and 1993 and played on one record called Native Tongue<\/em>. It’s not like he was in Poison<\/strong> when they were absolutely massive in the ’80s. I’d argue Rotzen<\/strong> is way more known for his solo work \u2013 the man has dozens of albums out under his own name.<\/p>\n Speaking of Kotzen<\/strong> bands, he’s got a new one with Iron Maiden<\/strong> guitarist Adrian Smith<\/strong> called Smith\/Kotzen<\/strong>. Check out their new record right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n