Chixdiggit

History

In 1990, K.J. Jansen, Mark O'Flaherty, and Mike Eggermont began selling T-shirts featuring the Chixdiggit logo at their high school, even though the band wasn't a real thing yet. The money from those shirts bought them a drum kit. Nobody in the group had any musical background, and the only instrument among them was O'Flaherty's classical guitar. Eggermont decided to learn bass, while Jansen picked up guitar and became the lead singer.

By 1991, they had officially formed the band, and they started playing a handful of shows in 1992 as they worked on getting better at their instruments. By 1993, they were playing regular gigs around Calgary. In 1995, they opened for The Presidents of the United States of America at a big concert in Seattle. In 1996, Sub Pop Records signed them, and they put out their first album, a self-titled effort, but their stay on the label didn't last long.

They soon moved to Honest Don's Records, a Fat Wreck Chords offshoot based in San Francisco. After releasing From Scene to Shining Scene in 2000, the band took a break, returning in 2003. In 2005, they started working on their fourth full-length album, Pink Razors, which came out on April 19, 2005, through Fat Wreck Chords in North America and Bad Taste Records in Europe. Mike Eggermont left the band in 2002 to start a software company.

Drummer Dave Alcock, who owned Sundae Sound recording studio, left in 2003, and original drummer Jason Hirsch took his place. In June and July 2006, they played a few shows in Europe, then a couple in California with the Groovie Ghoulies. They toured Europe with Riff Randells in October 2007. On October 31, 2007, they released a re-recorded version of their debut album, called Chixdiggit!

II, on Bad Taste Records. In 2011, they put out a six-song EP titled Safeways Here We Come, released in North America by Fat Wreck Chords. Former drummer Dave Alcock died in Calgary on January 1, 2023, at the age of 47; the band announced his death on their official Facebook page.