Brion and Bill Murphy began writing together in New Haven, Connecticut. They recorded some demo tracks in makeshift apartment studios, and worked out their arrangements at Yale University Campus. They enlisted the talents of bassist Don "Riff" Fertman to form The Bats (unlike the New Zealand band of the same name). In 1982, the trio created a imaginative set of pop songs in a small studio in Connecticut. A single called "Popgun" followed by an LP entitled "How Pop Can You Get?" were released on the independent label Gustav. The album failed to chart, and the group was disbanded.