Maandig and Reznor (Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez)It goes without saying that Trent Reznor’s managed to notch a lot of different accolades on his resume—from his early days with Nine Inch Nails to his Grammy-winning film score work. However, here’s one you may not know about: He’s actually married to a musician, and she happens to be his partner on his latest musical endeavor.
Here's the scoop on Reznor's talented wife, who's his main collaborator in the project How To Destroy Angels, which is releasing its first full-length album on Tuesday.
Mariqueen Maandig,(who goes by the nickname “Q” with friends), a striking Filipino beauty who grew up in Orange County, Calif. and dabbled in musical theater during her school years, claimed she never wanted to be a professional musician—she actually wanted to be a fashion stylist instead.
Accordingly, she entered the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandise following graduation. However, finding the curriculum uninspiring, she jumped at the chance to enter back into the music world when a friend offered to hook her up with an emerging band.
Maandig ended up joining Los Angeles buzz band West Indian Girl and fronted the group from 2004 through 2009, meeting Reznor during her tenure there. She released two albums with the dance/psychedelic-rock outfit and managed to keep her budding relationship with Reznor under wraps until the announcement of their engagement in 2009.
To this day, the couple has managed to maintain an air of mystery about their relationship. “I tell people [Trent and I] met at a Mensa meeting, because we met under such unusual circumstances,” she noted to WWD in 2011—without elaborating on what those circumstances were.
Maandig announced retirement from her band after accepting Reznor’s proposal; while Reznor himself played his final show with NIN in September of 2009. The two married a month later, with no apparent hard feelings from their former colleagues.
“She couldn’t be marrying a cooler guy,” noted a post on West Indian Girl’s official site. “Talk about analog and digital love --their kids might all have moogs for arms.”
The following year, the couple announced their collaborative project How To Destroy Angels—which also included c0mposer Atticus Ross and art director Rob Sheridan, both of whom had worked extensively with Reznor over the years. Shortly after the news leaked out that Reznor’s latest musical partner was, well, his literal partner, the newlyweds and their bandmates released a six-song EP under their new name.
How To Destroy Angels went on to notch a track on the 2011 Girl With The Dragon Tattoo soundtrack (which Reznor produced, scoring a Golden Globe nomination), and followed that up with yet another EP in November of 2012--with the promise to eager fans that a full-length would be on the way shortly.
Reznor and Maandig, despite juggling two young children by this time, kept their promise and announced in January that the long-awaited album, Welcome Oblivion, would be released in early March. To seal the deal, How To Destroy Angels released an ominous, dystopian video for single "How Long" later in the month.
How To Destroy Angels will be playing famed California music mega-fest Coachella in April.