Clay Puppets is a band formed by only band member Bart Buist, a Dutch musician and songwriter. Buist is a self-taught producer, guitar, bass guitar and keyboard player. His influences and music consist of different genres with elements of symphonic and progressive rock, orchestral, pop, metal and jazz. The first Clay Puppets album is full instrumental and the tracks can best be described as little progressive soundtracks.
His own influences are very broad. A short list: Frank Zappa, Jaco Pastorius, Hans Zimmer, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Marillion, Fish, Pink Floyd, Twenty One Pilots, Stephen Wilson, Biffy Clyro, Philip Glass, Faith no More, Manic Street Preachers, David Bowie, Paul Gilbert, Ben Folds Five, Weather Report, Slayer, Voivod, Metallica, Rush, Jeff Buckley and many more.
All instruments on In Order of Appearance, except for the drums, were played and recorded by Buist. Some tracks are direct references to movies or episodes of series. In Order of Appearance is a direct reference to the list of actors in the credits sometimes shown at the end of a movie. The actors are shown in order of appearance to avoid discussions or negotiations with the filmcast.