Clock Opera is a London based band consisting of four members. Guy Connelly, singer and guitarist, formed the band in 2009 after his former band (The Corrections) split up. It started out as a solo-project but together with Andy West, Che Albrighton and Dan Armstrong, they became the band that we now know as Clock Opera. From time to time, Guy still makes remixes under the name Clock Opera. Their album 'Ways to Forget' came out under a massive amount of interest. The music is being labeled as Indie-rock and chop-pop because of the songwriting process. They start by producing sounds who are being cut and than made into samples. These samples are the base for the songs, afterward being mixed with the other sounds of the instruments to a nice tune. In the end, the lyrics are being written. All this mixing and matching gives their music a complex distinctive sound.
The name Clock Opera kinda describes their music. The unperturbed nature of the 'clock' you can hear in the rhythm in the samples and the fluency, while the emotions of the 'opera'-part are clearly present in the themes within their music, but also the melody and lyrics of the songs.
The true story about their name according to Connelly :
"I read a story about a composer who’d written a symphony for pocket watches. It was lost and never performed, so I thought we could do it instead. There’s a mechanical aspect to our music and it made good sense."
I didn't really know what to expect from the show but they have a good live reputation, so I was really curious. At 20h15 sharp the lights went dark and the intro of 'White Noise' kicked in. However it sounded somewhat off tune, soon the real tune started and off we were. To preform without a support act isn't always that easy, and it takes some time to get into their vibe, but once you're there, the enjoying can begin. The samples are really amazing, something that hasn't done before in this particular way and it takes you into a world of it's own. Also Guy's voice has a specific timbre. Some songs are somewhat melancholic, while others emit a certain kind of euphoria and a lot of energy.This perfect mix kept the audience's concentration.
At a certain point ( 'A piece of String' ) the tins and pans came out, and at that point you could really feel how their music was brought to life. Anyway, what was being said came true. Live, you can really feel the music, crazy rhythms and harmonies come together as a whole. Something you have to experience and feel to understand.
More photographs from that night you can find here
