Former Misfits vocalist Michale Graves recently sat down for an in-depth conversation on CCM Magazine‘s “CCM Spotlight“. During the interview, the singer opened up about his transition from fronting a legendary horror punk band to dedicating his life to his Christian faith, explaining how his chaotic years on the road eventually led him to a spiritual breaking point.
Reflecting on his early years, Graves explained that he had a religious foundation but lost touch with it as he grew older and entered the music industry.
“Well, I was raised in a Catholic household, so I always knew God. I had a relationship with Jesus for a good part of my life, really up until about my teenage years. And I went to Catholic school, and once I was taken out of Catholic school, I got away from the Bible. I always had a relationship with God, I always knew God was there, but Jesus and I kind of drifted apart. I started to look at ways that I could manipulate my life and make things happen for myself. And then I found the Misfits.”
The singer revealed that his initial childhood ambition was to become a preacher. However, a profound experience seeing homelessness in New York City pushed him toward music as a way to communicate on a deeper level. Unfortunately, joining the Misfits introduced him to a volatile environment that ultimately pushed him away.
“I always knew that God had me on the path to play music,” he continued. “When I was young, I wanted to — first I wanted to be a preacher. I wanted to tell people about Jesus. And then the story goes, I was in New York City. My mom and dad always used to take my sisters and brothers and I to New York City around Christmastime to see everything. And I had never seen homeless people before, and I saw a homeless guy, and I couldn’t believe that everyone was just walking past this man, and something in my heart changed. I wanted to communicate in a more sort of profound way. And I had this relationship with music. I listen to music, and I can almost see it. I can feel it in such an amazing way. And so my heart changed, and I wanted to play music. So my path really led me to the Misfits in a very Forrest Gump way. I was at the right place at the right time. Then when I got into the Misfits, as you can imagine, this world that I was propelled into was insane, and the things that I saw and the way that people… The things that they were doing, and I got to a point where sex and drugs and just insanity… There was a lot of violence in the Misfits— I mean, in the shows — and it was a very crazy, tumultuous world. And I got to a point on the road, I said, ‘Well, maybe this is the way that I’m supposed to be in order to be part of this world.’ And it felt very strange and uncomfortable. And ultimately, and standing at that crossroads, do I sign the deal with the devil and go this way, or do I go a different way? And ultimately, I decided to step away from the Misfits.”
Despite stepping away, Graves struggled to find peace. He battled substance abuse and depression, feeling as though he was being punished despite his success in the music business.
“God was always there, but I didn’t have this relationship with Jesus. And along the way, again, my life was difficult. Lots of loss, lots of pain. I was so uncomfortable… And I would say, ‘God, I’m a good person. I’m trying to do good things. I’m making these decisions that I think are correct.’ It got to a point I thought that I was being puni[shed]. I used to say, ‘I must have been something terrible in, like, a past life, and I’m being punished for what I did. Why are you doing this, God?’ Even after the success… I couldn’t find happiness. I couldn’t find happiness in anything that I did — in anything that I did. I developed a taste for drugs, and my life just went out of control,” he explained.
The turning point arrived during a trip to Arkansas. After attending a cowboy church and being introduced to the teachings of Billy Graham and the music of Johnny Cash, his perspective shifted completely.
“I spent some time in Arkansas with these people, and I started to hear about this… They took me to a cowboy church, and there was ‘born again’ stuff. And I always thought, like, being born… You hear ‘born again Christian’, and you just open the door and say, ‘No, thank you.’ But then somebody turned me on to, started telling me about Johnny Cash, and then I heard about this guy named Billy Graham, and I heard a sermon that Billy Graham gave about being born again and the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus, like, ‘How can a man be born again? And ‘what is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of spirit is spirit.’ And all of a sudden, it clicked, and I sort of got it. My life got to a point where I [was at] the lowest of the low, and I found myself in a hotel room on my knees just calling out to Jesus. And I surrendered my life to Jesus and became born again. And here I am.’
Today, Graves uses his platform and his history with the Misfits to connect with listeners who might otherwise reject religious messaging. While this approach has drawn criticism from some within the church community, he maintains that his goal is to reach those who are struggling the most.
“I see a lot of people, I meet so many young people, so many people that are hurt and that are lost, and they just … And they don’t have God. They don’t have God,” he said. “[And] they are responding to it. I get pushback from some Christian crowds about the music and some of the things that I’m doing. But my response is that Jesus said that we have to be fishers of men. So what’s the point in me playing to just a room full of believers? That’s easy. We already have those. They’re already in the stable. They’re part of the flock. I go out and I’m talking to kids that are lost and that are hurt, the crowd that when you say ‘Jesus’, everyone gets weird. And I have this perspective, I have this world of Misfits stuff that I can use and that I have used to be able to reach some people. And especially when I’m in Latin America, I see it. It’s profound. People have come to me and have said they’ve given their life to Jesus. They’ve seen what I’ve been doing. They hear the things that I’m saying. And I’m a simple man. I don’t have a lot of material things at all, but that’s treasure to me. That’s everything.”
During a recent appearance on the “When Words Fail, Music Speaks” podcast with host James Cox, the singer explained how he merges his spirituality with the famously dark imagery of horror punk.
Despite the ghoulish aesthetic associated with the Misfits, Graves revealed that his lyrics frequently stemmed from his religious background. He credited bassist Jerry Only for actively supporting this approach, noting that before reforming the legendary punk group, Jerry Only and guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein played together in the Christian metal band Kryst The Conqueror.
“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 [Misfits bassist] Jerry [Only] encouraged. You have to also remember that before the Misfits got back together, Jerry and [Misfits guitarist] Doyle [Wolfgang Von Frankenstein] 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. This man blessed himself every night before he went on stage. And that encouraged me, as well as he encouraged me, to not walk away from that, and to somehow… And that again, when I was talking about challenging and creative challenging, it was the challenge to create from my Christian perspective in this environment, in this world of — the dark places,” he said at the time.
The singer also touched on the heavy criticism he received from the religious community, particularly when collaborating with West Memphis Three figure Damien Echols on their 2007 acoustic album, Illusions. Many conservative Christians questioned how his faith could coexist with horror-themed music. In response, the frontman pointed out that preaching to already established believers was never his actual goal.
“All along, especially when I was working with Damien Echols [an American author who first became known as one of three teenagers, the West Memphis Three, convicted of a triple murder in 1994 despite the lack of physical evidence connecting them to the crime and the dubious nature of the other evidence] and making Illusions [the 2007 collaborative album between Graves and Echols] and that part of my career, there was a lot of people that came from the Christian side of things that were — they didn’t understand. I don’t wanna say that they were disgusted, but I got a lot of flak because here I was talking about my Christian, how I feel, my spirituality, my faith in the Lord, and they were, like, ‘How can you say that when we see the imagery of the Misfits and these songs that you’re writing?’ And I tell them, look, what’s the point of me walking into a worship service or going to a church and playing for people or speaking to people who are already believers who are already there? They’re already there. We’re not doing anything. There’s this whole other world out there, this dark world, that the Misfits are in.”
Instead of standard preaching, the vocalist uses his edgy background to connect with marginalized youth who have been alienated by traditional organized religion. He explained that relating to their struggles and interests opens a unique door to share his faith.
“When I go out into the world, I’m talking to kids that have — there’s a lot of church hurt. When you say the word ‘Jesus’ at a Misfits show or a Michale Graves show, there’s a lot — not now, a lot less now — but these kids, they look at you, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ So writing about these fallen worlds, the dark worlds, writing about demons, writing about angels, writing about coming from a place where you’re at your lowest. These kids are broken, they’re sad, they’re lost, they’re hurt, they’re confused. And do you think that they’re gonna just walk into a church or you’re gonna have somebody that they don’t respect, the second that they see somebody with like a buttoned-up cardigan and this and that, and they talk and they start talking about Jesus, and they’re, ‘Nope.’ They’re gonna turn their back and they’re gonna walk away. But if I walk up to them and I say, ‘Hey, man. What are you wearing on your shirt there?’ There’s demons or something. I don’t know. And we start talking about Baal or Moloch or we start to get into demonology. And now we start to talk. And then I tell them about my faith. And that’s how you run a monster ministry. And that’s what I’ve been focusing on, really, since 2012. For the past 14 years, I’ve really, really tried to make that the forefront of what I’m doing,’” he concluded.
Michale Graves officially signed a new record deal with Epochal Artists Records, a label distributed by Virgin Music Group. He will be taking his music and message on the road this spring for the “God Bless America Tour 2026.”
“These shows on my ‘God Bless America Tour‘ will be an intimate, story-driven live experience that blends acoustic music, testimony, and storytelling,” Graves said.
He added: “Signing with Epochal Artists Records marks an important new chapter for me in my career. In many ways, it is going back to where I began. The first dream in my heart as a young man was to be a musician and a preacher. That calling has always been part of everything I’ve done along the way to where I find myself today in music and in life. The preacher part might take a minute, but I’ll continue to work on it.”
Earlier in February this year, Michale Graves‘ several UK shows were called off following backlash over his past far-right comments and activities.
In 2020, Graves aligned himself with the Proud Boys and was present in Washington, D.C. on January 6th, 2021, where he was scheduled to perform at a private event for the group. He also later appeared as a character witness in defense of some individuals involved in the Capitol riot.
Amid the controversy, a city councillor in the UK labeled the punk singer a “fascist” and called on The Marrs Bar in Worcester, England, to cancel his performance which was scheduled for February 20th.
Councillor Neil Laurenson said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that the Marrs Bar has made the decision not to cancel the gig. Michale Graves has been cancelled across the UK, and I find it embarrassing that Worcester is still on the gig list. I think The Marrs Bar should cancel the Michale Graves gig, as other venues have done in Bradford, Glasgow, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Swansea, Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Camden, Reading and Oxford.”
Laurenson further intensified his criticism, pointing to Graves’ past support of the Proud Boys as well as a 2024 performance in Israel as additional reasons for concern.
“Michale Graves is a fascist. He supports the Proud Boys and performed in Israel, a genocidal state, in July 2024. I think it would send a powerful message that fas*ists are not welcome in Worcester if the gig was cancelled.”
In response, Graves shared an extensive statement on Instagram, defending his remaining European tour dates and addressing the recent cancellations.
“Over the past days, I’ve become aware of an aggressive online campaign of organizations and individuals focused on my upcoming shows in Europe.”
“I respect that people may hold different opinions or choose not to attend these shows. I am very concerned that venues, staff members, and people simply doing their jobs are now being placed under significant pressure and distress and in some instances being threatened to simply show up at there [sic] job.”
“I want to be very clear: my shows are about music, community, and shared passion. I do not promote violence, hatred, or harm, and those who have attended my performances know that my focus has always been bringing people together through music. All are welcome. The live music scene should remain a safe and inclusive space for everyone — artists, fans, venue staff, and local communities alike. No one should feel unsafe or intimidated for participating in or supporting live music events.”
“If my music is not for you, I fully respect your choice not to attend. However, I respectfully ask that disagreements remain peaceful and that the hardworking people behind these venues are treated with respect. I look forward to performing for those who wish to be there and sharing music in a positive, safe and respectful environment.”
Graves fronted the Misfits from 1995 to 2000, performing on the albums American Psycho (1997) and Famous Monsters (1999).
