Michale Graves

Last updated

Michale Graves
Michale Graves (cropped).jpg
Graves performing in 2010
Background information
Birth nameMichael Emanuel
Born (1975-03-21) March 21, 1975 (age 49)
Dumont, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1995–present
Labels
Formerly of

Michael Emanuel (born March 21, 1975), better known by his stage name Michale Graves, is an American singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist for the 1990s re-incarnation of the horror punk band Misfits from 1995 to 2000, leaving briefly in 1998. He has also released several albums as a solo artist.

Contents

Life and career

Misfits

Graves was born and raised in Dumont, New Jersey. [1] [2] He was recording a demo with his band the Mopes in Lodi, New Jersey, when their engineer, Bob Alecca, mentioned that the Misfits were reforming and holding auditions for a new singer. Graves bought the Collection I and Walk Among Us albums to familiarize himself with the band and became an official member about a year after trying out.

In September 2008, Graves confirmed that he would return to the Misfits if asked: "Jerry and I do not have a dysfunctional working relationship. Him and I both know and I know he knows that I am on board. It is a phone call away. I won't step back into what I walked away from, but the problem isn't with Jerry and I. The problem is with Doyle and with Chud." [3]

On December 26, 2009, Graves appeared on stage with Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and Dr. Chud's band Gorgeous Frankenstein at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, who was opening for Danzig. While on stage, the band (along with Graves on vocals) played four late-1990s-era Misfits songs ("Helena", "Lost in Space", "Scarecrow Man" and "Shining"), but they were cut short from playing "Dig Up Her Bones" due to time. [4]

Graves' singing can be found on American Psycho , [5] Famous Monsters , backup vocals on the 1999 single "Monster Mash", and "Cuts from the Crypt". He also wrote original songs for the band such as "Dig Up Her Bones", "American Psycho", "Scream!", "Saturday Night", "This Island Earth", "Fiend without a Face", "Shining", "The Haunting","Devil Doll", "Witch Hunt", and "Fiend Club".

Graves (left) with the Misfits in 1998 Misfits (Michael Graves).gif
Graves (left) with the Misfits in 1998

Lost Boys

During a break in touring in 2000, Graves and Dr. Chud formed a band called The Lost Boys. They played two shows before the Misfits regrouped to embark on another tour, which was their last tour with this lineup. The first Lost Boys show consisted of Graves on an acoustic guitar and vocals while Dr. Chud played drums. They played Misfits songs they had written as well as songs later used for the band Graves which Graves wrote. The second show was the same music played as the first show, only this time the lineup consisted of Graves on vocals and electric guitar (he used Misfits guitarist Doyle's old Ibanez Iceman which was given to Graves as a gift upon joining the Misfits back in 1995), Dr. Chud on drums, and "J-Sin Trioxin" (Mister Monster) on bass. Later on as an encore set, J.V. Bastard (of Mister Monster, Gotham Road, Darrow Chemical Company, and Blitzkid) took the stage joining the band to play guitar as Graves sang. The four played a set of "classic" Misfits songs from the 1977–1983 era of the band.

Graves

After Graves and Dr. Chud's split with the Misfits on October 25, 2000, they formed the band Graves which made one album called Web of Dharma . Before the band finished writing songs, recording, touring and even solidifying a lineup, Graves rejoined the Misfits, but only as a guest vocalist for a month during the M25 kickoff tour. He would perform Misfits songs written during the time of his tenure with the band to raise money for his new project, Graves. During a two-day break on their Web of Dharma 2 tour, the band recorded what was to be new material for a second album in Ripsnorter Studios, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The studio is owned by members of the Minneapolis horror rock band Ripsnorter, who offered the band free studio time. The recordings were never finished due to disagreements between the mixing of the songs and have never officially been released. After two successful US tours and the verge of a breakout record contract, Graves dissolved due to differences between Graves and Dr. Chud, after only releasing one album.

Gotham Road

Graves formed Gotham Rd shortly after with Loki, JV Bastard and Paul Lifeless. Under the assumed name of Graves they recorded a five-song demo of redone Graves songs, three which were released on Web of Dharma and two other songs which had been written and demoed with the original Graves lineup but not officially released. Around this time is also when Graves announced via his website that he would begin producing other bands albums on his off time. One such band is Stressbomb from Connecticut who recorded their first album, Self Medicate, with Graves as producer and his drummer Quincy as engineer during January 2006. [6] After a few months of the band practicing, they decided to change the band's name to Gotham Rd. They released one album before going on hiatus so Graves could join the U.S. Marines. His last show ever was to be on December 31, 2004. They went on two successful tours: 2003's Seasons of the Witch tour and 2004's Mourning Lights tour. Before their Mourning Lights tour, the band entered a studio to record three new songs they had written after their first tour. Out of the three songs, only one ("My Way") had been mixed. The only way it was available for listening was by requesting it on Seton Hall University's WSOU, Pirate Radio. Before going on indefinite hiatus they would play one-off shows in New Jersey when home from the Punk Rock Is Dead, Graves solo tour. Their second-to-last show to date was held at the now defunct Connections in Clifton, New Jersey, in March 2005. The band announced The Nightmare Rides Are Back all over the net and played a one-time-only reunion show in Belmar, New Jersey, at the Goodwill Fire Hall with Cryptovyrus, The Zombie Mafia, Morbid Visions, and Johnny B. Morbid. They played a mix of material from Graves' solo works, Graves re-records, and Gotham Road, as well as some Misfits songs written by Graves. In 2008 and 2009, the band contributed some songs to the German compilation CDs Get Acquainted Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Solo projects and beyond

2005–2008

Right before his leave for the Marines, Graves was approached by Horror High Records to do a solo album. He eventually recorded his debut solo record Punk Rock Is Dead in 2005. The entire album was written and recorded with friend and bandmate in Gotham Road, Paul Lifeless, on drums in only one month. After being honorably discharged due to a back injury, Graves went to embark on a tour in support of the album with Loki, JV Bastard and Matt Johnson.

In March 2006, Graves began a tour in support of Damien Echols and the West Memphis Three. Matt Johnson was replaced with Quincy Smash, who had played bass guitar for one of Graves' bands, The Mopes, before the Misfits. To coincide with the 2006 Halloween/Almost Home 2 tour, Graves' second solo effort titled Return to Earth was released on Halloween day of 2006.

Graves has written an album entitled Illusions with Echols. It consists of 15 songs and was released October 31, 2007. The lyrics are written by Echols and Graves, and feature J~Sin Trioxin and Quincy Smash. A year later, in October 2008, Graves released Illusions Live/Viretta Park , a combination live album and demo EP. It was recorded on April 24, 2008, at Club Bourbon in New Port Richey, Florida, and July 8 and 9, 2008 at Bucharest, Romania.

Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg

Graves performing with Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg in 2010 Marky Ramone,Michale Graves (4640201605).jpg
Graves performing with Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg in 2010

Graves began touring as the singer for Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg, which features the namesake drummer and at one stage members of the band Antiproduct, although the band now features a rotating lineup. The band covers vintage Ramones songs live, and in 2010 recorded a cover of a Graves song called "When We Were Angels", originally featured on Illusions. In March 2011, Blitzkrieg also released another song written by Graves entitled "If and When".

2012–present

In March 2012, Graves met Mark Allen Stuart, CEO of Hydraulic Entertainment. After several meetings discussing potential projects, Stuart and Graves decided to create their first album Vagabond. On September 28, 2012, Graves began a pledge through Kickstarter to release the album, [7] which eventually was released on February 6, 2013. With Vagabond, Graves showed a completely different side of his songwriting, as the album genre ranges between folk , rock and country. The release marked the beginning of the highly productive and successful partnership between Graves and Hydraulic Entertainment. On August 27, 2013, the album Vagabond Acoustic was released, containing eight acoustic songs from Vagabond with a short description of each song.

Later in 2012, a second Kickstarter release was announced, Lost Skeleton Returns, which Graves referred to as a return to horror punk, and stated would feature ten re-recorded classics as well as four new songs. [8] Lost Skeleton Returns was released on June 20, 2013. Motionless in White vocalist Chris Motionless provided guest vocals on the track "Forbidden Planet". The album was supported by nationwide touring with Graves performing as his infamous "Skele-Crow" character for the first time in nearly a decade. Following the release of Lost Skeleton Returns, an instrumental version of the album was issued and made available to fans online. An extremely limited number of copies of this edition were made. An acoustic album called Supernatural [9] was released on February 7, 2014, and features acoustically performed songs of Lost Skeleton Returns.

On June 3, 2014, Graves released a new album titled Wanderer, a musical follow-up to Vagabond, which was once again funded through his Kickstarter project. [10] An acoustic version of the record called Wanderer Acoustic [11] was released on February 3, 2015, following the tradition of Vagabond Acoustic and Supernatural. Later in 2015, a CD titled The Hydraulic Entertainment Demo's Volume 1 with demo recordings of songs from Vagabond, Lost Skeleton Returns, Vagabond Acoustic and Supernatural was released.

In January 2016, the full-band album When Worlds Collide [12] was released as the follow-up to Lost Skeleton Returns. The album contained 11 new songs and combined punk, horror punk and monster rock in Graves' typical manner. The record also included the sequel to the fan-favorite song "Crying on Saturday Night", which is called "Dying on Sunday Morning". In summer 2016, Graves recorded and released the album Bedlam, [13] which is the acoustic counterpart to When Worlds Collide. A new take on "Dying on Sunday Morning" was added with the song "Feels Like I'm Dying". In the spirit of Lost Skeleton Returns Instrumental, Graves released When Worlds Collide Instrumental later that year. Graves and Hydraulic Entertainment also made the demos of When Worlds Collide available for the fans and released a limited CD with early versions of the songs.

So far, Graves has produced and worked on 14 music projects/albums with Hydraulic Entertainment.

Michale Graves' current solo project is managed by Arturo Santaella (Lynch-Moore Studios). Graves and Santaella started an acoustic tour around the U.S. in September 2021 performing in venues and private parties. Per Santaella, Graves is scheduled to tour in South America in 2022.

Other projects / guest vocals

Along with the month-long writing and recording session of Punk Rock Is Dead, Graves also laid down vocal tracks for the band Summer's End's debut self-titled release. He wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocals for the song "Headwound". Graves wrote and sang on the album The All-Star Sessions , made by all the bands which reside on the Roadrunner record label, before his departure into the Marines. His vocals can be found on the track he penned with Trivium's guitarist/singer Matt Heafy, "I Don't Wanna Be (a Superhero)".

Graves appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Zombie Romance" in Snow White's Poison Bite's album Snow White's Poison Bite: Featuring Dr. Gruesome and the Gruesome Gory Horror Show, released in April 2013.

In October 2014, Graves and the Russian punk band Night of Samhain released a double-album on the Hydraulic Entertainment label. The first disc contains the entire album with English vocals, translated and sung by Graves. The second disc contains the original album by Night of Samhain, sung in Russian by the band's lead singer Michael Shaforostov. The concept for the two-CD album was created by Hydraulic Entertainment CEO Mark Allen Stuart and the project was nominated for an Independent Music Award – Album of the Year. In 2015, the second double-album Revenge of the Zombies was released, featuring acoustic renditions of songs from Zombies Unite. The first eight tracks are English versions performed by Graves, while the second eight are Russian versions performed by Night of Samhain.

On August 28, 2015, Graves started another Kickstarter campaign for Nightmares, featuring a collection of classic horror stories read by himself. The project was successfully funded and released in late 2015.

On August 27, 2016, Swedish punk band Zombiesuckers released their album From Ashes, including the single "Endless Sleep" featuring lead vocals by Graves.

Political views

Graves became a contributor to the Conservative Punk website in the early 2000s. In 2004, he was interviewed on his conservative positions on a piece for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. [14] He identified as a libertarian in 2013. [15] In 2020, Graves endorsed the Proud Boys in an Instagram post. The post was later deleted. [16] [17]

In 2021, Graves posted on his website a page titled "See You In Washington DC on January 5th and 6th" and an image of a poster advertising "InfoWars Alex Jones Rally to Save America" (Jan. 5), with the statement "I will be in Washington DC on January 5th and 6th taking part in several different missions alongside hundreds of thousands of fellow American patriots rally in the capital." [18] Similar poster art was posted on his Instagram page, including one apparently by "Latinos for Trump" with a photo of Graves and the words "FREEDOM RALLY SPECIAL APPEARANCE" with the date January 6. [19] In mid-December 2020, Graves posted on his Parler account "Seems like the choice is war" - no context was given. On January 5, 2021, he posted "The next two days changes everything. We are ready. We are awake. We are fuckin' pissed!" On January 6, he posted a picture apparently of members of Congress lying on the floor between rows of seats, apparently taken that day, along with these words: "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny... When the government fears the people... There is liberty." He later posted "R. I. P. America 1776-2021." [20]

Graves reportedly agreed to play a private show for the Proud Boys in Washington, D.C., on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, but failed to appear for the show. In March, he was listed as a possible witness for the defense by lawyers representing Ethan "Rufio" Nordean who was charged with conspiracy in connection with the 2021 United States Capitol attack. [21]

Discography

The Misfits

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Graves

Gotham Road

Solo

Studio albums

Studio albums with Hydraulic Entertainment LLC AV

Compilation albums

Compilation albums with Hydraulic Entertainment LLC AV

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Collaborations

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

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References

  1. ↑ "Michale Graves Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  2. ↑ "'70s punk band fits pieces back together.", The Star-Ledger , May 6, 1996, p. 43. "Graves of Dumont"
  3. ↑ "LIVE METAL". LIVE METAL. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Michale Graves version of the Misfits reuniting (sort of) @ Starland Ballroom Danzig show (TONIGHT)…". BrooklynVegan. December 26, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  5. ↑ Greene Jr., James (September 24, 2008). "The Misfits' American Psycho (1997)". PopMatters .
  6. ↑ "Stressbomb - Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Michale Graves "Vagabond" Limited Edition CD". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Michale Graves "LSR" on Kickstarter" . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Michale Graves "Supernatural" Extremely Limited Edition CD". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Michale Graves "Wanderer" Album – Follow-up to "Vagabond"". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Michale Graves Wanderer Acoustic CD". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Michale Graves "When Worlds Collide" Sequel to Lost Skeleton". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Michale Graves "Bedlam" Monster Acoustic CD". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  14. ↑ "The-Clash". June 23, 2004. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016.
  15. ↑ Preira, Matt (March 21, 2013). "Michale Graves, Ex-Misfit and Libertarian Who Loves Puppies, Coming to Churchill's Pub" . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Michale Graves (@officialmichalegraves) posted on Instagram: "I AM A PROUD WESTERN CHAUVINIST AND I REFUSE TO APOLOGIZE FOR BUILDING THE MODERN WORLD #proudboys #america #infowars #trump2020…" • Jul 19, 2020 at 4:13pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Michale Graves says he is a "proud western chauvinist" and a "proud boy"". punknews.org. July 20, 2020.
  18. ↑ "See You In Washington DC on January 5th and 6th". officialmichalegraves.com. January 3, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Michale Graves (@officialmichalegraves)". Instagram. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Michale Graves (@Officialmichalegraves)". Parler. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  21. ↑ Lynch, Sarah N. (March 30, 2021). "Punk rock singer could be witness in Proud Boys U.S. Capitol riots case". Reuters. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
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