Dear Brian: YES

Dear David: Circus devils now understands the depth of concern over this issue. Consequently, the band wishes to calm your fears by making the following statement: Jesus is alright with us. We just don't like his followers much.

Dear Adam: Can you be a pied piper of men, and lead the multitudes through the forest and into the halls of the mountain king? Can you make fire with your mind? Can you eat your own head? Can you play a musical instrument? If you can do these things, then yes, you can join the band, because we want you to teach us how to do it.

Dear Gulliver: Thanks for your startling evidence! We think your picture may be genuine. But with all such things, who can be sure? If there is one hair face, maybe there are whole families of them. Nonetheless, he looks about the right age. But it appears that he has let himself go since we last saw him. In those days he had a neatly trimmed face. And he didn’t have that weird fang.

Dear Nick: Sgt. Disco is angered by your question.

Dear Tony: Many of those sounds you hear on circus devils recordings are gathered by band member Todd Tobias and manipulated using an ensoniq sampler. Sometimes he uses tape to slow down or speed up familiar instruments to give them a unique sound. Distortion filters are a favorite tool in giving sounds a particular texture. Animal and bird cries and insect sounds have been used as well. Todd wishes he had a field budget to collect sounds in faraway places like the Amazon, or Bora Bora, but the record company so far has not granted these funds.

Dear Luke: Remember that the destiny of your soul is not as important as the naked fact of its existence. In this universe, it's much more likely for us never to exist at all. The soul factory at the center of the galaxy can only produce so many souls, and then no more. And your body is host to one of them. Some other guy will never get the chance to be here because he will remain a mere possibility for all eternity. When you feel bad Luke, think about that other guy, and feel bad for him too. To get back to your question, we are certain that Harold Pig as we knew him has passed through the digestive tract of many worms. It may sound romantic to you, but Harold Pig is now a denizen of the dirt.

Dear Bill: Thanks for offering your theory, but the hair-face man could not have been a sasquatch because he spoke plain english and wore a nice shirt.

Dear Jud: Circus Devils is comprised of gentlemen of discretion. If they were involved with the kind of depraved things you mention, they would not be disposed to discuss it. Anyway, I heard that Tim voted for McGovern in '72.

Dear Mookus: Let's establish some perspective. If our homunculus hears of this plan, he will become very restless and shake the bars of his cage and demand to be released. We would then have no choice but to set him free, and after that we cannot be responsible for what takes place. But rest assured, there will be piles of gore to be cleaned away. One more thing. Is the plural of your name Mooki?

Dear Graig: I'm glad that you found sympathy with the song Summer IS SET. But I sincerely hope that you will not use the song as a justification to harm yourself. We all live in this prison, and part of the reason we make music and listen to music is to give ourselves an escape from the low-grade illusion that we are trapped here and that our weakness and our mistakes add up to the sum of our lives. This is not true, so keep moving and keep searching. If you need to fall, then throw yourself into new spheres of LIFE.

Dear Brenda: No offense taken. The answer is no. Drugs should only be taken when you listen to music. Not that good music can't be made by people on drugs. It just hasn't been necessary up to this point as an aid to the imagination of circus devils. It may be that one day, if and when the records really start to suck, and when the angry comments begin to roll in from folks like you, that drugs will be introduced. But only then.

Dear Stal: You have a keen eye. Yes, this is a clue, but then again, not conclusive. Our friend from Zanesville, Ohio followed up with news that hair-face is no longer in custody. He was released only days after his capture back in 2003, and remains at large. We know that his crime was trespassing on a farm. He was caught sleeping in the farmer's barn, and was apprehended after a fight in the hayloft. One policeman suffered a bite and required shots. When he was handcuffed, the hair-face began to mumble. The official report states that he repeated the words "Let me go back to bed." The report ends there, with no mention of hearings. The identity of hair-face was never disclosed. It was said that he carried no ID of any kind. Or maybe our friend from Zanesville is conveniently ignorant of these facts? It makes you wonder. For example, how did he obtain such a nice photograph?

Dear Earthenware: Is Conundrum the aboriginal art publication? It's an honor to hear from you. Please feel free to airdrop our discs onto any population you wish. It's a shame that all the original so-called primitive, or pre-literate societies have been destroyed, swallowed up, or forced to survive under siege, because we feel that they would appreciate circus devils a lot. But then they would need technology to listen to our music.

So, back to your question. The circus devils headspace? Let me take a whack at that. There is no specific ritual. I think what we do grows out of the experience of living in America, and more generally, as members of the greater Western civilization that engulfs our minds and subdues our souls. Part of the spell that civilization casts is the illusion that it is progressive and leads us on to better things. Circus devils is not fooled by this. We don't condone anarchy, because we like electricity and ice cream. But we also need to answer the call from the wilderness. A circus devils record is like a safe journey into dangerous places. We want to make it safe for everyone. Making a circus devils record is like going to Skull island and camping out, and taking pictures of the monsters there, and bringing back the pictures and showing them around. It's fun because we don't have to actually get near the monsters and risk our lives to do that. Some hardcore artists will say we are pussies, but we will not apologize.

For anyone who explores the shadow-side of life in their art, it's no good to get trapped in the dark, or to make a fetish out of dark things. That's what so many other bands pretend to do, and kids get caught up in it because they're looking for an external reflection of their pain. Circus devils will not take advantage of the kids this way. Real darkness can't be made into a fetish. It just swallows you. But it's real, and it is a by-product of civilization, so we can't pretend it's not there. We play around it, and laugh around it, and go through spells of melancholy, and then we make it back home safe, so we can regroup and make the next trip. So circus devils isn't interested in embracing darkness. That's not part of the headspace. It's just impossible to avoid. A sense of humor keeps things in balance. Sometimes humor is what it's all about, because the alternative would be relentless pain and sorrow and cannibalism.

Anyway, we feel the need to do this because the united states strives more than any other country to be the shining light, and the land of beauty and blessings. In our daily lives it's hard to see the incredible negative counter-charge that is created by this striving for the ideal in every sphere of life. Skull island is a metaphor for what lies behind the looking glass of the world we know. If we were born in a place like Bora-Bora, our headspace would be filled with turquoise lagoons, pretty native girls and postcard sunsets. But that's not an option here in Ohio, or most anywhere else on earth, thanks to civilization and its horrors. Now don't misunderstand, circus devils supports the vision of our nation's founding fathers. But they are all dead, and no one will speak for them now. In conclusion, on one hand, we're trying to enchant ourselves in order to escape the numbing boredom of life in this programmed society, and on the other hand, in a very unconscious way, we're exploring who we are and what we're about. I hope that long-winded and convoluted answer made sense. This is the first time I have really thought deeply about it. Now I will try to forget.

Dear Titmouse: I think maybe you are jealous of their fine, trim physiques and smooth, taut skin. Some teenagers are not the plastic, programmed, pleasure-seeking androids with no sense of all the great music what came before in the decades before their birth that you think they are. These exceptional young people I speak of are hard to find in America, where both pride and ignorance are nurtured in our young. Pride and ignorance. That's a splendid combination, don't you think? On the other hand, there are many other countries where the teenagers can technically be called human. If any teenagers are reading this, don't feel bad. Take comfort in the fact that you will not last much longer. (As a teenager I mean).

Dear G: We are glad that you party with our records, but circus devils does not party until the record is done and it's time to listen. As stated elsewhere, mind-altering substances should only be taken when listening to music, and not during the production process. The mixing of drugs and musicians usually leads to tiresome jamming and noodling around for hours, which also leads to hordes of worshiping fans and untold riches for these musicians. But circus devils is not interested in that (the noodling part, I mean).
This is an important matter that should be discussed without fear of being labeled as some kind of egg-head philosopher or smarty-pants wise-guy. The tension between pure imagination on one hand, and a mechanism of calculation and focused execution on the other, must be maintained. In other words, within the workings of the mind, there is the open window to emerging patterns of music and lyrics, and then there is the agent who recognizes these patterns and directs their assembly. Drugs tend to transform this active "director" or agent of assembly into a passive star-gazer. To explain it another way, if we partied like you do, then no work would get done. But by all means, keep partying with our records. We like to hear such reports.

Dear Rose: High marks for your keen eye! Drill Sgt. Soul IS Sgt. Disco. That was the name he used back when he was ashamed of his real name. But now the world is a more accepting place, thanks to the fact that nobody cares. I'm not talking about you Rose. I know that you care. That other guy you mentioned is a fictional character made for the TV.

Dear ?: The pig you speak of is not held in high regard by circus devils. Her name is Ursula. She is owned by our neighbor (at the back), Mr. Crandall, who is a businessman and church leader, and lives on the next street down in a nice house. Mr. Crandall is nice to us and invites us over for games, but he does not support circus devils because he believes the band's name is offensive. One thing he often says to me is: "Are you still in that combo, the sinful devils?" I say "yeah," and Mr. Crandall shakes his head. "Well you need to quit that and make yourself useful," he says. We will not eat his pig. Speaking for myself, I do not enjoy eating from the body of pigs.

Dear Paul-Is-Dead: I repeated your question to Sgt. Disco, and he asked me "Who is Sgt. Pepper?" I told him, "Sgt. Pepper used to occupy your current post, and he has been talking shit about you." Sgt. Disco was angered by this news and told me that he is waiting for a challenge from Sgt. Pepper. So far no challenge has been offered, but Sgt. Disco stands ready.