The magazine started as a photocopied zine in 1998, as an offshoot of the weekly Sydney club night Frigid, run by Chan and co-editor/designer Dale Harrison.

[6] In 2005, the Australian Council for the Arts and Austrade assisted Cyclic Defrost to attend Sónar electronic music festival in Barcelona.

[7] Cyclic Defrost was chosen as a case study for the [Australia Council's Fuel 4 Arts' Protein project in 2005, based on it receiving a "New Audiences" grant in 2002.

[9] Sound and media artist Shannon O'Neill, writing for RealTime Arts, called the magazine a key participant in Australian music discourse.

[11] Following Cyclic Defrost's transition to a digital-only magazine in July 2013, Bob Baker Fish, Chris Downton and Peter Hollo assumed editorial duties for the website.