Guillemots were formed in November 2004 by Fyfe Dangerfield, who began writing songs firstly in his native Birmingham and then in Bromsgrove. He moved to London in 2002, becoming a music teacher, and recruited MC Lord Magrão, Aristazabal Hawkes and Greig Stewart to form a 4 piece band. Their name is the plural of the name of a group of seabirds, and is pronounced 'gillimott' (and not in a French style). They have often been joined by 2 saxophone and woodwind players, known as the "Bridled Guillemots" (a real life variation of the band's namesake), originally Alex Ward and Chris Cundy, however in March 2008, Ward left to pursue his own musical interests, and replaced by Ruthie Phoenix, vocalist, alto sax and keyboard player.

The band ended a very successful 2005 opening for Rufus Wainwright's sold out UK tour and began 2006 by being awarded fifth place in the BBC Sound of 2006 survey. 2006 EP "From the Cliffs" (which continued the "Guillemot" theme, the bird's natural habitat being steep sea cliffs) preceded debut album “Through The Windowpane” which was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize.

Latest album, “Red”, was released in March 2008, and reached number 9 in the UK album chart, with first single from the album “Get Over It” climbing to number 20 in the UK singles chart.