Chisel (band)

Chisel began in 1990 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, when classmates Ted Leo (guitar/vocals), Chris Infante (bass), and John Dugan (drums) began practicing in the basement of a campus dormitory. Leo had played punk shows with bands such as Animal Crackers in New York's all-ages scene and Dugan had drummed with the Washington, D.C. area punk act Indian Summer from the age of fifteen. The band quickly went from playing a covers set (Wire, Misfits, Buzzcocks, Mission of Burma) to playing original songs written by Leo. Chisel began to perform at various college venues in the Midwest and Northeast, visiting clubs such as D.C. Space in Washington and ABC No Rio in New York City.

In 1991, the band released its first single, "Swamp Fox/Spike" b/w "Listen", on Assembly Records, and followed it up with appearances on compilations released by college radio stations WVFI in Notre Dame, Indiana and WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey. In the same year, they recorded a demo tape in Notre Dame's Stanford Hall. In 1992, Infante graduated from college and was replaced on bass by Chris Norborg, who also provided the backing vocal harmonies that soon became integral to Chisel's sound. It was during this period that the band began to change its style from traditional emo-influenced pop punk that was inspired by contemporaries in Washington, D.C., to more of a mod-influenced band in the vein of the Small Faces and The Jam. In 1994, the band members relocated to Washington where Dugan had been interning with Amnesty International.

In 1995, Chisel issued an EP with New Jersey's Gern Blandsten label, Nothing New, which included several new songs recorded with Guy Picciotto of Fugazi in his home studio as well as recordings done the previous year in Chicago with Tortoise soundman Casey Rice. It was followed in 1996 by 8 A.M. All Day, an album of all-new material recorded in the basement studio of Velocity Girl guitarist Archie Moore and produced by the band itself. By this time, Chisel was touring as a support act for bands like Fugazi, Velocity Girl, Blonde Redhead and Tuscadero. Following the release of 8 A.M. All Day, the band gained a growing following in the rock clubs of New York, Chicago, and Boston.

For its next album, the band enlisted Nicolas Vernhes and his Rare Book Room studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to record brand new material. The band first recorded a single, "It's Alright, You're Okay", in the studio and a few months later booked Vernhes for 10 days. Within those ten days, the band tracked and mixed 16 songs. This new set of material found the band incorporating various Britpop influences, horns, Hammond organ, and thicker sonics into its sound. But the band also pared some pieces back to an almost minimalist rock aesthetic to push Leo's increasingly dark, personal lyrics to the fore. At the other end of the spectrum, Norborg contributed lead vocals to his compositions "The Unthinkable Is True," "Oh Dear Friends," and "Morley Timmons".

The band released its second and final LP, Set You Free, in mid-1997, and set off on a well-attended tour with Boston band Karate. Chisel played its last show on 16 May 1997, in Knoxville, TN at the end of its tour. Plans to tour the West Coast and Europe were scrapped.

On 14 March 2022, Chisel's digital discography was deleted from streaming services. Numero Group announced that were behind it and that they would be re-releasing the Chisel discography, starting with the "It's Alright, You're O.K." b/w "Guns of Meridian Hill" single and would later be ending with an expanded version of Set You Free.[2] On May 10, Numero released an EP titled "All My Kin" featuring remastered versions of the title track and "Rip Off The Gift", both from Set You Free, and a previously unreleased live recording of "The Unthinkable is True".[3] On July 12, the "Innocents Abroad" EP was released, featuring remastered versions of four songs from "Nothing New".[4] On September 12, the "What About Blighty?" single was released, featuring the title track originally from 8 A.M. All Day. On September 30, Numero announced Numero Twenty, a festival celebrating twenty years of Numero Group being active. A slew of reunions were announced for the fest, including Chisel. On November 16, the band announced two additional dates, one staying in California and the other in Chicago.[5]

• AllMusic Artist Page
• Epitonic page
• Band web site as of 2008
• Official myspace website