When veteran Omaha musician Bruce Coddington heard his best friend Clint Thomas’ band Secret Skin broke up, he immediately went to his home to console him.

During their conversation, Coddington brought up the idea of getting a new band together. An hour later, they had a five-member line-up complete and their first practice set up.

“We were talking about it and it just turned into one of things where we were like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s do it,” Coddington said. “I was just pumped because it was the first time anyone ever let me be the singer.”

Coddington is no stranger to band break-ups. Last November, he was the first member to depart from the now-defunct Blue Moon Ghetto, where he served as a “hired hand” bass player.

“We all wanted to play different styles of music so we were always compromising,” Coddington said. “[Heavier music] is where I’m from. I saw Blue Moon Ghetto as a musical challenge and that is what it was.”

In the past two years, Coddington has taken on another musical challenge — the guitar.

“It’s a completely different mindset,” he said. “I played my bass like a bow and arrow, slapping on it and beating it. Guitar is more finesse.”

Fortunately, Coddington is the “fill-in guy” of a guitar trio that includes Clint’s brother Kevin and local studio engineering wizard Paul Moerke. Ex-Secret Skin member Paul Weakland rounds out the roster on drums.

The five musicians, who elected to call themselves Clever over Chump Ass Trick, began practicing in November and played their first show as the year came to an end.

Voted Omaha’s most promising new act in The Omaha Reader, Clever has since shared the stage with God Lives Underwater and The Urge, and has recorded a full-length CD, which is due out in May.

“I think forming out of other bands is to our advantage in that the people who liked Blue Moon Ghetto or Secret Skin will have enough curiosity to at least come see us once,” Coddington said. “But we don’t care about any expectations. With Blue Moon Ghetto, we were always worried about what people expected. With this band, it’s fuck it, put us in front of a crowd.”

Coddington’s love of crowds stems from his early years in Omaha, when he was a guitar tech for 311.

The Missouri Valley, Iowa, native moved to Omaha when he was 19. One of the first friends he made in town was 311 drummer Chad Sexton.

“It would be a lie for me to say 311 didn’t influence me,” Coddington said. “I model a lot of what I do after those guys because I don’t know any other way.”

Following in the band’s mission statement to simply “have fun,” Clever tried to capture its high energy vibe by going into the studio while the songs were still fresh.

“We played with a lot of the toys,” Coddington said. “We knew our sound on record would be different than the live show, so we just decided to make it really different.

“So basically, we’re a punk cover band, covering all of the same songs on our CD.”

Clever will be playing with one of its favorite punk bands, House of Large Sizes, Saturday night at People’s Bar and Grill. Bugatti Type 35 is also on the bill.