Poetic Wax: Music History Hidden in the Grooves

The BIZARRE Story of How the Velvet Underground Met Andy Warhol

The Velvet Underground is one of the most influential bands in rock history, and their collaboration with pop art icon Andy Warhol has a lot to do with that. This is the BIZARRE story of how The Velvet Underground met Andy Warhol, and went on to change the landscape of music forever.
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How Arcade Fire Changed Indie Rock: The Story of 'Funeral'

From Grief to Greatness: this is a history of Arcade Fire's debut album Funeral and how it changed indie rock. Funeral was released in September 2004, birthed from the collective grief of the band after losing many family members. Finding joy in the sorrow, the album resonated with many across the United States and the world in the post-9/11 days, still fresh from a few years prior.
Yet, it almost didn't see the light of day.
From death to new life, pain to joy, after 20 years this album still cuts deeply, heals fully, and continues to impact and inspire fans of indie rock.
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Modest Mouse and the Story of 'Float On'

This is the story of "Float On" and how a slew of bad events led Modest Mouse to create the greatest perseverance anthem of all time. Their 2004 album "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" turns 20 in 2024, and that means it's the perfect time to look back and see how we got here. Modest Mouse is a band that probably never should have made it big, but defied all odds with a little mindset shift. Let's dig in!
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The Story of Mercer Arts Center and the Rise of CBGB's and Punk Rock

Before CBGB's there was the Mercer Arts Center. This is the wild story of the hotel that housed that venue, it's collapse, and how it led to the rise of CBGB's and punk rock. Today we touch on a few notable bands from the 1970s, including New York Dolls, Television, Ramones, and The Modern Lovers.
From the fanfare of the Grand Central Hotel in the 1870s to the two notable events that took place with its first ten years, to the birth and collapse of the Mercer Arts Center, this fascinating story digs into a little covered history within the underground music scene in New York City during the early 1970s.
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The Smashing Pumpkins and the 1979 Ultimatum

One of the reasons I started the Poetic Wax Podcast is that I love digging deep into the often little known history of bands, albums, and songs in my record collection.
Sometimes it's shocking how quickly a band pulls together an album -- sometimes in the span of a few weeks or less! But just as often, the opposite is true. The songwriter struggles to put the final touches on the song.
This is the story of the latter, and how it literally came down to the last day in the studio and an ultimatum from the producer. That song is "1979," and it would become one of the most cherished hits on the band's 1995 double album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
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Radiohead and the Sabotage that Made 'Creep' a Masterpiece

Sabotage doesn't usually lead to good things. On a rare occasion, however, it does. This is the story of how an act of sabotage in the studio created the defining sound that led to Radiohead's first commercial hit, "Creep." And, how that song became one of the many slacker anthems of the early 1990s.
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How "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana Saved Rock Music

The speed as which "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the album it opened, Nevermind, catapulted grunge and alt rock band Nirvana into the mainstream in 1991 is unparalleled. Not just was the song the anthem of a generation, it became a defining cornerstone to the soundtrack of the 1990s.
This is the story behind the song, and how it helped save rock music, pushing alt rock and grunge into a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
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The Sonics and the Origins of Punk Rock

Punk originated during the mid 1970s, but its beginnings are steeped in the underground scene dating back to the mid 1960s. Today, Andy Fenstermaker with Poetic Wax looks at proto punk and its origination, coinciding and clashing with the mid-60s garage rock of the Pacific Northwest. In particular, a little band from Tacoma, Washington called The Sonics.
This episode of Poetic Wax digs deep into the music history of one of the earliest influences on punk rock. As The Sonics celebrate their 60th anniversary with a series of live shows (yes, they're STILL performing to this day), this is a fitting look back at their humble beginnings.
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