In the mid-90s, a supergroup named Tapeworm almost became a thing. The group featured Nine Inch Nails vocalist Trent Reznor and keyboardist Charlie Clouser, Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan, Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo, Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, and Atari Teenage Riot's Alec Empire.
Clouser recently spoke to Metal Hammer about Tapeworm, saying the supergroup sounded great on paper but "it’s really not as simple as that." Clouser said that while writing for the album was underway, a new Nine Inch Nails album started to form and he wanted to be a part of that.
“When the behemoth that is a new Nine Inch Nails album is on the horizon, you want to be part of it,” says Charlie. “Do I want to have a writing credit on that, or do I want to use my idea for this little, unevolved thing? It’s a no-brainer, really. For example, I had a drum loop for a song that I was working on for Tapeworm and Trent really liked it. He took it away and it became the genesis for the song Starfuckers, Inc., which is a far bigger deal, really.”
Some of what Tapeworm was working on also surfaced as "Passive" by A Perfect Circle and "Potions (Deliverance Mix)" by Puscifer. Clouser adds that Tapeworm is simply a thing of the past.
“It’s like a leaf on a branch, isn’t it?” Charlie explains. “If you don’t water it then it dies. Lots of other leaves were getting watered at that time, and the Tapeworm leaf wasn’t. So, it just died. I left the band and went off to work with Page Hamilton from Helmet. We do have a whole load of recordings from that time, but they’re not ready, they’re in no fit state to release.”
