The Brown Cuts Neighbors (BCN) was formed by Jason and Colleen Martin (AKA Lady Starlight) in Schenectady, New York in 1980, and included an army of stuffed animals, imaginary people, and other entities. Their first tape, "Should Could Would" was recorded in September 1980. Early performances included broadcasting toy guitars / vocals / percussion into the street, via the stereo. Throughout the '80's BCN made several tapes with hand drawn covers. Variety shows were produced to accompany some of these tapes, using a Sony Beta Porta-Pak video camera and light from slide projectors.
BCN later became an experimental rock band whose music combined Captain Beefheart-esque stylings with garage rock and tape manipulations. Formed in 1980, the primary human members were Jason Martin, James Kopta, and Marc Arsenault, with several others participating. They also did street theatre and created more than 50 films, many of which were shown on public access but a few were aired on national television. They released many audio tapes and two 7" vinyl records. Dara, the drummer on the second 7", was also a member of His Name Is Alive and had solo material released on Ecstatic Peace. The Brown Cuts Neighbors also covered the song "I'm a Mensch" on "The Necessary Effect - Screamers Songs Interpreted" double CD tribute to The Screamers. James Kopta died on August 9, 2002 due to an unknown accident.
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