It took me ten years to become a Nine Inch Nails fan. Actually. Between my Catholic upbringing, Trent Reznor’s association with then-protégée / your parents’ worst nightmare Marilyn Manson, and lack of a cool, older sibling in the ’90s, any interaction I had with Reznor’s industrial rock outfit came by chance. As those incidental doses grew more frequent, so did my fascination with his immersive landscapes of sound. Four moments stand out to me the most.

2002 - NIN’s tragic epic “Hurt" is reimagined by Johnny Cash on what would become his final album, American IV: The Man Comes Around. “When I heard that song,“ Cash remarks before his death, “I thought, ‘That sounds like something I could have written in the ’60s. There’s more heart, soul and pain in that song than any I’ve heard in a long time. I love it.” I am 11 and captivated by his cover at first listen. It’s strange that a song about such deep pain can be so beautiful.

2007 - “Closer" places second to Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On" on AOL’s “69 Sexiest Songs Ever Recorded.“ I am 15. I click through because I’m curious and these are the kind of dumb, provocative posts you click through when you’re 15. The throbbing drum sample, Trent Reznor’s cries, and those abrasive “I wanna fuck yous” scare me and turn me on all at once. I replay the unexpected delicate piano outro several times. The other songs on the list don’t offer as great of a visceral reaction.

2009 - Reznor places NIN on a hiatus that only broke this year. “Don’t be sad. I’ll keep going,“ he tells a shocked audience at Bonnaroo. “But I think I’m going to lose my mind if I keep doing this, and I have to stop.” That fall, a copy of The Downward Spiral is passed around at least one dorm room in Canada. I am 17, and college is about trying new things anyways, right? So that’s where “Hurt" and “Closer" come from. The record strikes me as cold and metallic. Unpleasant. Initially, I skip every song if it intercepts my shuffle setting. Eventually, I warm up to the pulsing beats and raw, emotional delivery on tracks like “Heresy” and “Reptile.”

2012 - I am 20. I have now loved and lost, been hurt and seen people I care about hurt themselves. Perhaps to fill the void, I fall hard for the legendary music chameleon that is David Bowie and start taking in everything the man has ever produced like air. That path eventually leads me to his thrilling 1997 collaboration with NIN, “I’m Afraid of Americans.” Instead of just hearing noise from Trent Reznor, I hear contagious energy and creative beat work. I’m finally sold, and go on to check out NIN’s first album on YouTube. And the next. And the next. And the next …

With greater experience and understanding, I realized that the point of Nine Inch Nails isn’t about unpleasantly dwelling in anger and sadness. Collectively, Nine Inch Nails is a story of survival. The music is less about Trent Reznor soundtracking violent urges to mindless distortion, and more about exorcising his demons in diary entries that became fully-fleshed out songs written with the tact of a true composer. Whether it’s his early electronic-based work, concept albums, or piano interludes, Reznor’s music is a therapeutic reminder of how far we’ve all come in the face of adversity.

This week, I’m hoping to save you the ten years’ time it took me to reach that conclusion, and to challenge your impression of what a Nine Inch Nails song can be. Whether you’re a follower of One Week One Band or Trent Reznor’s work already, I encourage you to come along. We’re in this together now.