Jerome Dillon graduated from Northland High School in 1987. He also attended college for an education in Art. Dillon started his musical career as the drummer for a small band by the name of Howlin' Maggie. Dillon joined Nine Inch Nails in 1999, with the completion of the highly-anticipated album "The Fragile". In an interview with Heresylair.net Jerome Dillon explains how he met NIN musical-mastermind Trent Reznor in a bizarre way:

"Well, I was in a small band called the Three Stooges, it was a solo project, and I was playing a gig at HOB that TR was at. I saw him sitting there, you know, while I was up, and I played like shit because of it. I mean, he's like, my American Idol, you know? And so, after the set, like, I went and toweled off and stuff. I was like, in the bathroom, and TR came in! I was like, oh my god! It's Trent fucking Reznor! He looked at me and was like, "Wow, man. You had your own little pretty hate machine going on up there. couldn't say anything, you know? So Trent kinda patted me on the back and then went into a stall there and I just stood there. And then, like, I hear this kinda thud sound and I'm like, "Mr. Reznor?" and there's no answer or anything. So I go knock on the stall and like, there's still no answer. I'm startin' to freak out, y'know? I say again, "Mr. Reznor? Trent?" Still nothing. You gotta believe me. So anyway, I like, I peak under the stall and TR's like, lying there. He's passed-out plastered, you know? So I'm all like, "Shit, man? What the fuck do I do?" So I push the door open, it wasn't locked or nothing, and I kinda like, sit him up straight. I went over to the sink and put some paper-towels in and got them all wet and then I go put them on his head. Then, you won't believe this next part. TR like, opens his eyes, and fuckin' decks me right in the forehead! Knocks me flat on my ass! I'm fucking out, you know, but I guess like, he figured out what was going on and like, the next thing I know we're in a cab together. He took me to a bar, and we explained what happened to each other, and after that, he kind of said he was looking for a drummer, and, there you go!"

Other sources state that he was simply notified of auditions for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails by his manager. After a series of detailed tryouts with the band, Jerome was signed on as Nine Inch Nails'

drummer. This version is also confirmed by 9inchnails.net. According to this web site Dillon packed up the Howlin' Maggie album Honeysuckle Strange and some other recordings he'd made in Los Angeles and sent them to a post-office box in New Orleans. Within three days he received a call to head south. After auditioning in early March, he was called back four weeks later. Dillon:

"I thought it was going to be the same thing all over again. Instead, I walked in and it was more of just a conversation with me and the band. They liked where I was coming from musically, and they thought it was conducive to the direction of the new record."

The previous drummer, Chris Vrenna, focused more on re-creating studio sounds with samplers and computers. Dillon continues:

"He is a great drummer, and he put forth to the band a lot artistically," said. "He was also a great technician in the studio and an integral part. But when it came to fleshing parts on acoustic drums, he really wasn't that type of guy. I dissected all of those parts on the old records on the drum set. In both of my auditions, I played a four-piece kit with one or two cymbals and just tried to destroy the drum set... Everyone in the band has a philosophy: Play every note like it's your last. I've always been a big believer in that."

Dillon worked throughout the Summer of 1999 in Nine Inch Nails' New Orleans studio to help create the double disc album, "The Fragile." Released in September of 1999, "The Fragile" has recently been certified as Double Platinum based on record sales. After the release of "The Fragile" Dillon became part of the extravagant Fragility super-tour that traversed over 15 different countries across three continents.



Afterwards Dillon went into a studio for his first record from his project 'nearLY'. Dillon is also featured on the film score of Cecil B. Demented (with director John Waters) and on Volume 1 and 2 of loops libraries "arhythmiA: Drums & Drones", for which the Nine Inch Nails drummer teamed up with NIN sound designer Keith Hillebrandt, and Sony Media Software.