Chisel (band)

Chisel
Chisel plays on the University of Notre Dame campus, April 1991. From left, are Ted Leo, John Dugan and Chris Infante.
Background information
Origin	University of Notre Dame Indiana  United States
Genres	pop punk, indie rock, Mod revival
Years active	1990–1997
Labels	Gern Blandsten
Associated acts	Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Website	Official myspace website
Past members	Ted Leo John Dugan Chris Norborg Chris Infante

Chisel was a punk rock band from the United States that existed between 1990 and 1997. In that time, the group released two full-length albums and a compilation of early recordings.

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 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.