Claim: Trent Reznor is an artist.

Option 30 was a new wave band from the early 1980s founded by Timothy K. -LRB- `` TK '' -RRB- Smith on guitars and lead vocals , Jim Nordstrom on bass and vocals , and Todd Nero on drums and vocals . For a time , the band also featured a young Trent Reznor on keyboards and lead vocals . Option 30 's style was similar to that of Falco and early albums by The Police .   The band performed at clubs in and around Northwestern and Central Pennsylvania , and Northern Ohio as often as three times a week while Nero and Reznor were attending Allegheny College in Meadville , PA. . After Reznor departed , the band continued on as a power trio with Smith on lead vocals . At this point , the band began performing a number of additional original songs penned by Smith and Nordstrom . Option 30 broke up in 1986   Not long after Reznor left , he joined The Innocent then onto Exotic Birds and finally , forming his own band , Nine Inch Nails .