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Working nights at Right Track Studio as a handyman and janitor, [[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. 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.
After the album was released, a [[bootlegs|bootleg]] called ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]'' surfaced. It contains early recordings of most of the tracks found on the album (including an early version of "Ringfinger" entitled "Twist"), as well as a couple that were not used ("[[Purest Feeling (song)|Purest Feeling]]" and "[[Maybe Just Once]]"). Demos that were likely sent to record labels also exist: some can be found on the ''[[Demos & Remixes]]'' bootleg ("Down In It", "Sanctified", "Kinda I Want To", and "Twist") and further tracks ("Sin", "Terrible Lie", "Sanctified", "Twist", and "Down In It") are on an uncirculated cassette, one copy of which is privately owned by [[Martin Atkins]].[https://exclaim.ca/music/article/early_demo_of_nine_inch_nails_pretty_hate_machine_hits_ebay] Some or all of the demos on the Atkins tape are from the same batch as those on ''Demos & Remixes''. Several , and some of these tracks were leaked in full in 2025.
''Pretty Hate Machine'' was recorded in various studios around the world with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers - [[Flood]] at Syncro Sound in Boston, Keith LeBlanc at Unique Recording Studios in New York, [[Adrian Sherwood]] at Roundhouse Studios in London, and John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Flood was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but couldn't because of his prior commitment with Depeche Mode.[https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/display/530] Reznor used his own journal entries as sources and inspiration for the album's lyrics.[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/21/trent-reznor-nine-inch-nails-youre-seeing-the-fall-of-america]