In 1995, the Misfits got back together, but it wasn't really the Misfits. In the time since the theatrical hardcore punk greats broke up in 1983, frontman Glenn Danzig became a metal star with his band Danzig, and countless bands covered the Misfits and/or cited them as a key influence. The Crimson Skull logo was inescapable. So bassist Jerry Only and guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein put together a new version of the band. They needed a new frontman, and a 19-year-old New Jersey native named Michael Emanuel became known as Michale Graves.
Michale Graves answered a newspaper ad and sang for the Misfits for about five years, from 1995 to 2000, before leaving and being replaced with a series of other singers. Glenn Danzig rejoined in 2016, and the "Original Misfits" have played occasional shows since then. During the Graves era, the Misfits were a successful touring act, and they put out the 1997 comeback album American Psycho, which has its adherents but which nobody will ever confuse with an OG Misfits record.
After his time in the Misfits, Graves sang for a few other bands, put out some solo music, did a stint as a US Marine, and got increasingly interested in right-wing politics. He's got some kind of undefined link to the Proud Boys, and he posted in advance of the the Jan. 6 Trump rally that turned into an insurrectionist riot. In 2023, he testified on behalf of Proud Boys members who were on trial for those riots. Now, Graves is making Christian music.
In an interview with CCM Magazine, Graves describes getting addicted to drugs during his time with the Misfits and becoming a born again Christian when he was at his lowest point. He says, "I get pushback from some Christian crowds about the music and some of the things that I’m doing. But Jesus said we have to be fishers of men. What’s the point in me playing to just a room full of believers?" He also plays acoustic versions of his own song "Faithless" and the Misfits' "Dig Up Her Bones," but you'll have to click over there to experience that.
As Blabbermouth reports, Graves also recently told the podcast When Words Fail, Music Speaks that he was Christian even when he was in the Misfits:
I've been a Christian all my life, and the music that I've written and the lyrics that I've written have always come from that place. Not all the songs, but many, many, lots of those songs come from that Christian perspective. It's another thing that Jerry [Only] encouraged. You have to also remember that before the Misfits got back together, Jerry and Doyle were in a band called Kryst The Conqueror. And so Jerry's spirituality and his love of Christ and his faith, he was never ashamed of.
I'm sure this new Michale Graves era will work out great for everyone involved.
