R.I.P. Circus of Dead Squirrels
Circus of Dead Squirrels
2003-2008
This is Matt Foran (aka Pancho Ripchord), vocalist of Circus of Dead Squirrels. I am writing to inform all of you that CODS has officially ended. This decision is beyond my control and it is not something I'm happy about. In fact, this is one of the saddest days of my life. CODS was not ready to die and I feel like we had so much more to offer. Unfortunately this does mean that we will not be releasing Operation Satan even though we had much of the material already written. Our official website will be closing this month but our myspace page will remain active. Our street team myspace page will also be closing. Please encourage others to still check out our music and purchase our merchandise, it would be greatly appreciated.
I want to say thank you to our devoted fans. I can not thank you enough for all of your support and for the simple fact that you believed in us. Meeting all of you throughout these past few years has been a wonderful experience. I thank you for your friendship, kindness, and encouragement. You will never be forgotten. I am sincerely sorry if this has let any of you down. Craig Douglas (Omega) and myself wanted nothing but to bring this band to the top. This decision was made by Dan Raphael (NTL) who for the past couple of years has not been devoted to this band in any way even though he wrote and programmed most of both albums.
I also want to thank Mark Alan Miller and Travis Falligant for the incredible contributions they made to this band. I look forward to working with you both again on other projects.
I feel that it is only fair to give our fans a detailed explanation for why this has happened. We joked numerous times that we were damned with "The Curse of CODS". So what makes a good thing end before it's time?
MONEY: We have dumped THOUSANDS of dollars of our own money into this band. We have yet to come even remotely close to breaking even. We are over $10,000 behind at this point. We are just not able to come up with even more to put out another record. We are not selling enough merch and even though we want to release one more album before the end, it is just not possible. We were hoping very much that someone would help us. We have contacted so many labels and have never had any success. You may be asking yourself, what about Misfortune Records? What a waste of time it has been even trying to talk to that guy.
BAND MEMBERS: Besides Craig and myself, CODS consisted of people who pretended to be devoted musicians for a little while. I lost respect for a lot of people. I lost my closest friends (so I thought) throughout this journey.
LACK OF SUPPORT: We have tried over and over again to book shows/tours with booking agents and other bands and have been shafted every time. Each and every time a sign of hope would arise it would eventually crumble to pieces. We were never able to get this thing out on the road.
MUSIC INDUSTRY: The music industry (at least the part of it we encountered) is full of egotistical, rude, and selfish lying pricks. I'm serious, some of the most miserable and worthless pieces of shit flock here. We met some great people too, but the vast majority are the kinds of people that can only be described as "cringing as fuck".
Still, with all of these stated issues, Craig and myself would have kept going. We just don't have the patience and energy to start this all over again without Dan. We gave him an ultimatum to either devote himself to this band or we would pack it up. The decision was very easy for him, he quickly ended the band and offered no apology to either Craig or myself. He never feels bad about anything, so even though he shattered all of our hard work we were not surprised that he showed no remorse. It's amazing that for quite some time Dan and I shared the same dream. There was a time when he was passionate about CODS, unfortunately that part of him died a few years back. He has changed and I actually don't ever care to speak to him again. I have absolutely no respect for him and we share nothing at all in common anymore. If there is one good thing coming out of this, it's the relief I feel knowing that I will never have to deal with this guy ever again.
Most of the time, no matter who was in the band, we did not get along. Still, there were many great times. We had the chance to open for some of my favorite bands like KMFDM and Pig. We had great reactions to both of our albums. We had the opportunity to work with amazing people. I did not achieve what I set out for but I do not consider it a failure. I don't feel that this is the proper way to end CODS and don't be surprised if some time down the road I decide to put out another record. If I ever have the financial means to do so then I can promise you that I will. Right now, I am piss poor. I am not any different that many of you. I am not a rock star, I work a two shiity jobs and make just enough to pay the bills.
So I guess this is farewell, at least for now. Who knows what the future may bring. You will still hear from me now and then when I do some crazy merch sale. I will continue to try and tolerate all the industry bullshit and pursue Ventana.
Thank you all so very much.
Matt Foran
