The History of Distortion and Feedback
6/10/202637 min
Distortion was once considered a mistake...now it’s a defining force in modern music. This episode explores how broken gear, happy accidents, and fearless artists turned fuzz, feedback, and overdrive into powerful creative tools, shaping everything from early rock to experimental soundscapes. This time, we dive into feedback, overdriven amps, drop-D tuning, and distortion beyond the guitar, touching on organs, synthesizers, experimental music, shoegaze, noise, and drone. From the elegance of controlled sustain to the chaos of Metal Machine Music, this is the story of how musicians learned to embrace imperfection and changed music forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAlan Cross· Host0:00
Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the Ongoing History of New Music early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.
Speaker 20:09
[suspenseful music] What did you steal? Secrets. Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg's best film in 20 years. Are they people? No. Are they human? Oh my God. Spielberg does this better than anybody in history. I can see them. They're coming. Disclosure Day, rated PG-13. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. In theaters Friday. Get tickets now.
Alan Cross· Host0:38
Once upon a time, not that long ago, all music was expected to sound clean and clear, like this. [guitar strumming] Let's hear that again. [guitar strumming] Pure, accurate, right in tune. It's a lovely sound. But then again, so was this.
Unknown speaker1:21
[distorted guitar strumming]