Work is never suspended. Talk of video treatments interrupts a generally lazy day. There's also the eagerness of trying out some new songs in front of their home crowd the next day inside Philly's Theatre of Living Arts that has the guys on pins and needles.

Then the aroma emanating from the gang's tiny kitchen takes over and the seriousness of rock 'n' roll endeavors takes a back seat to belly comforts. Too many cooks may ruin the broth, but not in the world of Circa Survive. Singer Anthony Green - the blue-eyed punk rock dreamboat who had his teenaged neighbor all the giggle once she found out the band had moved in next door - often answers to at-home boredom and the pressures of modern rock 'n' rolling by cooking.

"The Food Network is like the Playboy channel for me," he confesses with the same eerie, hypnotic, cockeyed smirk as Oprah's cooking buddy Rachael Ray. "I love watching Unwrapped. I love eating," the singer continues, no apron to block even the nastiest of spillage. "I love cooking. Food is, like, the best thing in the world. You're creating something, like writing songs. And nothing's ever the same twice."

Instead of in a practice space, the guys - Green, guitarists Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom, bassist Nick Beard, and drummer Steve Clifford - are making their latest creation inside the kitchen of their humble home in a tree-lined section of Doylestown, a quaint suburb about 30 miles outside of downtown Philadelphia. It's as quiet as one would expect. Local restaurants, an indie theater with an old-school marquee, and a record store that still has a local section (although Circa Survive and the rest of its Lower Bucks County hardcore bloodline buddies A Life Once Lost, Days Away, and Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer each get their own sections) bring them the joy of community living every day.

"I just love it," Green says of Doylestown. "I think it's perfect for us. It's spiritual. It's like we should be here."

In 2005, Green gave up on L.A.'s high-style living just as his band Saosin was headed for a lucrative deal with Capitol Records and a nationwide tour with Story of the Year. When he returned home to have some oral surgery done, he had time to reflect on his career path. He'd always wanted to work with Frangicetto, whose high school project This Day Forward had just disbanded after a big tour and a solid release on Equal Vision. The two started jamming while Green was home recovering. It wasn't until Green was midway through his journey back to L.A. that he decided to return home to start Circa Survive.

Since, Circa Survive has won over a rabid fan base that embraces the band's brand of experimental, spacey punk rock. Constructions moderately sway from King Crimson-and Sunny Day Real Estate-inspired emo-prog to songs so pretty they'd be the ideal make-out soundtrack for this MySpace generation of alternative rock fans.

But cooking's different. Green's not going to invoke the spirit of Shannon Hoon or Robert Smith (both of whom he's been likened to) when working on today's dish - eggplant lasagna. Nah, he'll go back to his bible, the Food Network, where creative additives often shadow the true mastering of the culinary arts. For him, it's the expressive presentations and that "BAM!" attitude that give the meal, like his songs, that perfect extra flavor. It's like finding that faultless ingredient in his lyrics - that special piece of brilliance that turns a good tune into a taste that'll take a mouthful of vinegar to erase.

"I think from watching TV and watching the Food Network, I've learned so much cool shit to apply to all types of cooking," Green enthuses. "I'm a visual learner, so watching cooking shows makes me a way better cook."

Beard's not a cook, but is one of four vegetarians in Circa Survive. Since shedding his hardcore dreams in Taken, the native Californian bassist remains the rolling stone to the Circa Survive clan around meal times. You know the type. He peeks his head in every once in a while to see what's brewing, maybe sets the table or cuts the bread. If a frozen pizza needs to be opened, Beard flexes his gastronomic muscle, drops his Xbox 360 controller, and springs into action. If not, he admires Green's art and then waits.

"Luckily Anthony is the one who loves to cook for people," he says. "He makes shit so often that he doesn't eat. It's so retarded. He'll just start making something and I'll just wander in and be like, 'Man, that smells awesome.' Ten minutes later, the plate is in front of me. And he hasn't even eaten yet."

Clifford is the lone carnivore of the crew, but is happy to link arms with his vegetarian brothers when the group effort transforms into that rare sit-down meal. He usually uses all of his music allowance to eat out - a habit he's picked up since the guys have been on the road almost exclusively since Juturna woke up that sleeping giant we used to call modern rock.

"We're making the eggplant ... whatever it's called," Clifford jokes without a smile. "It's not eggplant parmesan. I keep calling it that and they keep yelling at me. The eggplant is the pasta instead of the pasta. And I love that."

He helps out the most, layering the eggplant, ricotta cheese, and tomato sauce in such an intricate way that it's no wonder he cites Yes/King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford as a major musical influence.

Ekstrom's different, though. He won't wait for the lasagna to bake. He's plopped himself down in front of the TV where, surprisingly, a live King Crimson DVD has replaced the comic relief right from the grips of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. An admitted food snob, he's cooked up a faux chicken, garlic, basil, and honey mix as everyone else is elbow-deep in eggplant.

"I tend to be underfed because I'm a total food snob," he says, earlier sending a smoky aroma throughout the house that certainly got Beard's attention. "I think it's just empowering to cook. It feels better than any other thing except being on stage. Like you're totally in control of the outcome of what is going to happen and it feels fucking good. It's almost like a meditation thing. There're some weird sensual things to both. It's very emotive somehow."

Ekstrom lends the weird to Circa Survive's musical triumphs. As the last of a misled generation that actually bought Sunny Day Real Estate records, when he first got together with Green and Frangicetto he wanted to write a progressive rock record and be the next Adrian Belew or Robert Fripp. Then he heard Green's golden prose, so "we kind of took the prog and just put it in our formula so that everyone could inhale a little bit easier. We walk the line between being a band that kids are going to like and a band that bands are going to like. And I think that's an important thing."

He looks on suspiciously as everyone else surveys the assortment of bruschetta appetizers prepared by a couple Circa girlfriends, whose duty also consists of making sure no food fights break out on this day. "When we cook for him, he's like, 'Yo, is there reefer in there?' He's so paranoid about that shit," Frangicetto laughs.

But don't let Ekstrom's bone-thin figure and former vegan allegiance confuse you - he's no carb-counter. He says he's addicted to baked goods. Where steak-savories are absent from most of the guys' diets, cake is not, and their fans make sure there's no dearth of it. The band hadn't even realized people outside Philadelphia rock out to its tunes when Ekstrom posted a MySpace blog saying Circa loves cake. The result has been delectably scary for the 29-year-old.

"Every cake we get is the creepiest cake we get," he admits. "There might be LSD in this," he often thinks. "I'm always super nervous to eat stuff that people give us. You never know. I'm so scared to have any kind of mind alteration that I make sure someone tests it. I let someone else eat it and then in a couple hours I'm like, 'How are you feeling, bro?' They think I'm just being nice, but I'm looking out for my well-being."

Circa Survive chowed down on a cake made from Mounds Bars just the other day, and have even received a cake decorated with a tasty sugar coating replicating the Juturna cover. The group has a regular fan in Florida who injects Oreo goodness into each of his sugary gifts. Strange or not, Frangicetto says that guys give sugar-laden offerings to the band as much as, if not more than, its female fans.

"I'm pretty trusting of our fans," he admits. "Everyone, especially the ones who bring us cakes, are obviously so into our band that I couldn't imagine them ever doing anything fucked up. But there is a first for everything."

The warming of a good family-style meal - shared equally by tour peeps in Cute Is What We Aim For and Envy on the Coast - does a lot to transform this cold down-day into a special energy builder for the long road ahead. The guys are serious about their music - an element that's especially evident to those who share cake stories and get a chance to see Circa Survive live beyond the stage.

It doesn't feel like spring in Doylestown for another week. Forty-degree days quickly give way to 80-degree days - not that the guys are able to enjoy it. By then Circa Survive is back on the road, feeling that wave of anticipation again.

Circa Survive's No-Noodle Eggplant Lasagna
Serves 8-10

3 large eggplants
3 cups flour
3 cups Italian-flavored breadcrumbs
5 eggs
1/2 cup water
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups olive oil
1 lb. ricotta cheese
5 cups tomato sauce

Peel and slice eggplant into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Beat three eggs and half-cup water in deep bowl. Dip each eggplant slice in flour, then into the egg-wash mixture, then into breadcrumbs. Allow to dry for 30 minutes. While eggplant is hardening, mix together the ricotta cheese and two slightly beaten eggs. Refrigerate.

Heat two cups olive oil in frying pan. Cook eggplant slices until golden brown, about three minutes on each side, and drain on paper towel. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Pour two cups tomato sauce into two-quart casserole dish. Layer a third of the eggplant patties on top, followed by half of the ricotta and a light sprinkling of the mozzarella mixture. Pour another cup of tomato sauce on top and repeat. Layer on the last third of the eggplant patties, then the remaining sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella mixture. Bake at 350 degrees on center rack about 60 minutes. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

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