[amagras]

It's difficult to say without listening, AFAIK there's no way to get rid of distortion, you can mask it or use it to your advantage. I would start mixing and see what happens, high and low pass filters can help, use transparent processing instead of character emulations. Sorry for not being of much help...experiment, use your ears, try to enjoy it and see how far you can go.

Check out a band called The Bad Plus, maybe that gives you some ideas...