 Tapeworm's genesis occurred during Nine Inch Nails recording sessions following The Downward Spiral tours circa 1996. While working on Nine Inch Nails material, Danny Lohner and Charlie Clouser, both Nine Inch Nails live band members, would often come up with ideas that Reznor felt did not fit in with his vision for the band. Tapeworm developed as an outlet for this material — a democratic group in which Lohner and Clouser could act as equals with Reznor, as opposed to Nine Inch Nails, in which Reznor maintained sole artistic control.
