Alex Brown, guitarist of the seminal hardcore punk band Gorilla Biscuits, has passed away following an aneurysm, Brooklyn Vegan and ArtForum report. He was 52. Gorilla Biscuits frontman Anthony Civarelli, aka Civ, confirmed the news in a post on Instagram, writing:

The world lost a son,brother,uncle,artist,musician and loving friend this week. I lost my bandmate and friend of over 30 years, a piece of my heart died this week and all I can do is think of all the fun, shows, meals flights and trips we had together. All the late night talks and all the early morning hangs with him and my wife and kids. There will never be another alex brown. A memorial service will be held in Iowa in the coming weeks. Tell the ones you love that you love them, alex passed away from natural causes a basal ganglia stroke.

Brown was born in 1966 in Des Moines, Iowa and studied art at the Parsons School Of Design in New York. There, he ran the hardcore record label and fanzine Schism with fellow musician John Porcelly and played in the local youth crew straight edge bands Side By Side and Project X.

Gorilla Biscuits formed in 1987 and released their first 7″ the following year. Brown joined in time to play on their highly influential second record, the 1989 album Start Today. The band broke up in 1991, but they continued to reunite and perform together every few years.

Brown was also an accomplished painter whose work was exhibited at galleries including New York’s Feature, Inc., Tokyo’s Gallery Min Min, Geneva’s Blondeau Fine Art Services, and Brussels’ Twig Gallery. He often incorporated found photographs and images into his art.

Revisit Start Today and find tributes from friends and bandmates including Civ and Gorilla Biscuits bassist Arthur Smilios below.