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Working nights at Right Track Studio as a handyman and toilet cleaner, [[Trent Reznor]] used studio "down time" to record and develop his own music. Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo, unofficially titled ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]''. Teaming up with manager [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] they sent the demo to various record labels. Reznor received serious offers from many of them. He signed a deal with TVT Records who, until then, were known mainly for releasing novelty and television jingle records.
''Pretty Hate Machine'' was recorded in various studios around the world with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers - [[Flood]], Keith LeBlanc, [[Adrian Sherwood]], and John Fryer. Flood was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but couldn't because of his prior commitment with Depeche Mode.[http://www.nin-pagestheninhotline.denet/1990_BSide_Juni_englisharchives/articles/getdowninit.htmshtml] After the album was finished, TVT Records were not happy about the direction the album had taken from the original demos. This would lead to friction between Reznor and the label. John Fryer elaborated:
<blockquote>"We were trying to make the hardest record we could make. It was very strange because we made it, we thought it sounded brilliant, we had it on the big speakers just blowing us away. Then someone from the record company came in — and because the demos were more synthy and not as industrial as the album, he listened to it and his mouth dropped open and he said 'You've ruined this record.' But of course it's gone on to be a classic. It was done in 20 days. I think it was a good thing that we made records so quickly back then because there's a lot of energy in there and mistakes are left in, so it sounds human and it's not blanded out over time."[http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan06/articles/johnfryer.htm]</blockquote>