Lucy Hamilton

Mars were an American, New York City-based experimental noise rock band, formed in the no wave scene in 1975 when China Burg (née Constance Burg; a.k.a. Lucy Hamilton) (guitar, vocals) and artist Nancy Arlen (drums) brought Mark Cunningham (bass) and vocalist Sumner Crane together to talk about music. They were joined briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey of Red Transistor. The band played one live show under the name China before changing it to Mars. In the course of their career, they pivoted from angular compositions to freeform noise music jams, consistently featuring absurd lyrics and non-standard drumming. All the members were said to be completely untrained in music before forming the band.