Clock Opera

Clock Opera
Performing at the Summer Sundae festival, August 2012. From left to right: Andy West, Che Albrighton, Guy Connelly.
Background information
Origin	London, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Moshi Moshi, Island
Website	clockopera.com
Members	Guy Connelly Andy West Che Albrighton Nic Nell
Past members	Dan Armstrong

Clock Opera are a British indie rock band based in London. Formed in 2009 by singer, guitarist and sampler Guy Connelly, the quartet also comprises Andy West on bass and guitar, Che Albrighton on drums, and Dan Armstrong on keyboards and vocals. Their singles include "Belongings" and "Once and for All," and their debut album Ways to Forget was released on 23 April 2012. Guy Connelly also does remixes for other artists under the name Clock Opera.

Clock Opera was started in 2009 by Guy Connelly, who was previously in The Fallout Trust and The Corrections. It began as a solo project and developed into a four-piece band. Connelly lived in a warehouse with bassist and guitarist Andy West, who was in the band Doloroso. Drummer Che Albrighton, whose previous bands include Bikini Atoll, played with West, and Connelly did some recording for them. Keyboardist Dan Armstrong, formerly of The Rushes, was another friend of Connelly's who was invited to join Clock Opera after attending one of their early gigs. Connelly says he named the band after a symphony written for pocket watches, while Armstrong calls the name Clock Opera apt "because of the infinite ticking rhythms and because we like to sing grandiose and emotive melodies."

Clock Opera's debut single "White Noise" backed with "Alouette" was released on 7" vinyl by Pure Groove Records on 16 November 2009. In 2010, the band put out two EPs on French labels: "A Piece of String" from Maman Records and "Once and for All" from Kitsuné. Both EPs included remixes of the singles.

In 2011, the songs "Belongings" and "Move to the Mountains" were used in two episodes of the American television series Chuck. "Belongings" was released as a single by the band's new label Moshi Moshi Records on 9 May 2011, followed by an EP of "Lesson No. 7" with remixes. The music video of "Lesson No. 7," directed by Aoife McArdle, was nominated for a UK Music Video Award.

Leading up to their debut album on Island Records, Clock Opera released a new recording of "Once and for All," accompanied by a music video directed by Ben Strebel and starring Dudley Sutton. The video had over 175,000 views worldwide on YouTube in the first two weeks. In March 2012, Clock Opera constructed a song called "Clock Operation" from samples submitted by fans and artists such as Maximo Park and Everything Everything.