Meeting the Misfits

A Macabre Monday Special

While Glen Danzig’s ego is inversely proportionate to his height, the Misfits remain one of the most popular and influential punk bands of all time.

That’s how my interview with the Misfits begins—at least my introduction to said interview. The first page of the conversation is currently lost, but that intro speaks volumes to how I felt in that moment.

It was 1996, and I had been living in Richmond for about a year and a half now. I moved to RVA for the punk community, at least to some degree.

As you can probably infer from my opening statement, there were some unanswered questions going into both the show and the interview.

First and foremost was how this new kid, Michale (not Michael) Graves would fit into his role as lead singer. Glenn (not Glen) Danzig had moved on from the Misfits around 12 years ago to form Samhain (a metal band) and then Danzig (a much more famous metal band), but his role in the Misfits had been paramount.

Danzig was a crooner, through and through. He could s…