Michale Emanuel was an aspiring singer/songwriter from New Jersey who credits a wide variety of musical influences as his inspiration.  In 1994 he was working on a demo with his band Mulch when he was told that The Misfits were holding auditions for a singer by Bob Allecca.  Jerry, Doyle and Dr. Chud just so happened to be overdubbing a Misfits show from December 20th, 1978 (recorded at Max's Kansas City, NY) at the same studio (Reel Platinum in Lodi, NJ) and Jerry and Doyle had just recently gotten the rights to record/perform as The Misfits.

At the time Michale wasn't all that familiar with The Misfits and thought they were a band like Cannibal Corpse; he contacted Jerry and was sent Walk Among Us along with a lyric sheet.  He also purchased Misfits/Collection I to further familiarize himself with The Misfits back catalog.

Michale (now given the last name Graves) eventually ended up as the singer for The Misfits™ and although there were brief instances of his absence remained with them, releasing two albums and touring the world, until October 25th, 2000.

"I prepared myself [for the audition] by learning the songs inside and out and just singing the tunes best I could. It was a long while and and even longer process for me to find out that I got the part so to speak. It really wasn't until Halloween night when we played at "Coney Island High" after that I was sort of ...kind of ...sure I was in."~Michale Graves, Heavy Metal Time Machine, August 2008

"I pretty much became the singer because they ran out of options [audions continued even after Michale auditioned and Jerry was still trying to lure Dave Vanian or Peter Steele into the band] at the end of the day to be totally honest with you and to make a long story short!"~Michale Graves, Live Metal, September 7th, 2008

The Misfits™ worked as a group to formulate the final songs on American Psycho and Famous Monsters but Michale Graves is credited for a large portion of the bands output around that time; American Psycho, Walk Among Us, The Hunger, Dig Up Her Bones, Blacklight, Resurrection, This Island Earth, The Haunting, Shining, The Forbidden Zone (lyrics-Michale Graves/music-Doyle), Witch Hunt, Scream! (along with Jerry Only), Saturday Night, Die Monster Die (along with Dr. Chud), Fiend Club, Helena, Devil Doll (along with Doyle), Fiend Without A Face (along with Doyle), No More Moments (lyrics-Michale Graves/music-Don Oriolo Jr./Doyle/Dr. Chud). In 1999 The Misfits™ song Scream! was featured on the compilation Music With Attitude (Rock Sound).

"I got to have a lot of input. I wrote a great deal of the compositions that are Misfits songs, that's a fact. It was clear and still is that I am the strongest writer of the bunch without a doubt...but everyone back then would record there ideas and songs on tape and hand them out...the songs that stuck we worked on and kept."~Michale Graves, Heavy Metal Time Machine, August 2008

He would rejoin The Misfits™ (minus Dr. Chud) in order to make some money (he also worked construction and at IHOP for awhile) for future projects for seven shows in the spring of 2001 during the misleadingly titled Misfits 25th Anniversary Tour.

Dr. Chud had also left The Misfits™ on October 25th, 2000 and he and Michale hooked up for Graves.  Graves lasted from 2000 until 2002 and released their debut album Web of Dharma in their final year.  Other members of Graves included; Left Hand Graham, (guitar) Don Quarter (02/2001-06/2001), Thomas Trokey (06/2001-09/2001, Tom Logan (09/2001-04/2002, 05/2002-08/2002)

After Graves, Michale hooked up with Loki [Angelsin] (guitar), JV Bastard [Mister Monster] (bass) and Paul Lifeless (drums) to form Gotham Road; originally they were still going with Graves as the band name.  Gotham Road performed two tours; 2003's Seasons of the Witch Tour and 2004's Mourning Lights Tour as well as releasing a debut album, Seasons of the Witch (2003).

In August 2004 Michale enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, he went through basic training in January 2005 and was given an honorable medical discharge at some point in February 2005 after sustaining a back injury.

In 2005 Horror High Records approached Michale about doing a solo project, at which point Gotham Road was put on indefinite hiatus.  Michale released Punk Rock is Dead (2005) and Return to Earth (2006) on the label as well as toured for both.  Michale was also featured on Roadrunner United The All-Star Sessions (Roadrunner) which featured artists/bands that either were or had been signed to Roadrunner in honor of their 25th Anniversay; Michale-vocals (lyrics) contributed to the song I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero) along with Matt Heafy-lead/rhythym guitar [Trivium] (music), Justin Hagberg-rhythem guitar [3 Inches of Blood], Mike D'Antonio-bass[Killswitch Engage] and Dave Chavarri-drums [Ill Niño].  He would also contribute to the song Headwound on Summer's End self titled debut (Hand Of Hope Records), writing lyrics/music and performing vocals.

Michale worked on Illusions (2007) with Damien Echols (one of the West Memphis Three) which was released on SOS Records and did an acoustic tour for the release.

Screaming Crow Records released a live/demo follow up to Illusions in 2008 titled Illusions Live-Viretta Park.  Also in 2008 Vile Of Venom released Halifax-Live at the Music Room and the demo album, The Scarecrow Selections in 2009.

In 2008/2009 Michale began performing off and on with Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg.

December 26th, 2009 Michale would reunite with Doyle and Dr. Chud at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ to perform 4 Misfits™ songs with Doyle's  band Gorgeous Frankenstein.  That same year the Misfits™ song Blacklight was featured on the compilation Shut The Fuck Up And Listen II (Portnow Intertainment Group).

In 2010 Michale Graves was featured on Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg single When We Were Angels he also performed with the band for several years (2010-2014).

A second single was released for Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg on March 24th, 2011 titled If And When; as with the previous single the song was written by Michale.  Michale also released the Burn Baby Burn EP through Vile Of Venom that year as well.

In 2012 Michale joined with Sardonica for the Touch Me single (a cover of The Doors song), he also began a Kickstarter campaign for his new album, Vagabond; $31,766 was raised and the album was released on February 26th, 2013; it featured an acoustic cover of Dig Up Her Bones and the album was released in an acoustic version through Vile Of Venom (with another Kickstarter that raised $12,413).  Also in 2013 Michale released The Lost Skeleton Returns through Vile Of Venom; this album featured several covers of Misfits™ songs; Lost Skeleton Returns was also saw a limited release of an instrumental version.  2013 would also see another Kickstarter campaign, this time for the album Supernatural; $14,084 was raised for this project and the album was released on  February 7th, 2014.  An instrumental version of the album was released as well on April 24th, 2014.

Upon the success of Supernatural, Michale began a Kickstarter for another new album; $19,147 was raised for Wanderer and the album was released on June 3rd, 2014.

In early 2014 Michale was contacted by Gennady, who was the bass player for a Russian band named Night of Samhain, about singing vocals on one of their songs for a U.S. release; the (Kickstarter) project eventually morphed into a double release.  $12,793 was raised and the album, Zombies Unite (through Vile Of Venom), was released on October 23rd, 2014; the first 8 songs feature Michale singing, while the second side features Night of Samhain singer Michael Shaforostov.

In 2015 Michale started a Kickstarter for the horror story/sound effects album, Nightmares (through Hydraulic Entertainment/Vile Of Venom).  $5,141 was raised and the album was released the same year.  Another Kickstarter campaign was used to release another Night of Samhain-Michale Graves team up; $8,419 was raised and the acoustic album, Revenge of the Zombies (through Hydraulic Entertainment/Vile Of Venom) was also released in 2015.  Drifter was also in 2015, it featured songs from both Vagabond and Wanderer; $10,343 was raised through Kickstarter and the album was released on July 31, 2015.

In late 2015 Michale went to Kickstarter again to fund When Worlds Collide, $12,671 was raised and the album was released in January 2016 (through Hydraulic Entertainment/Vile Of Venom).  He also contributed yet again to Night of Samhain's Monsters in the Closet album (Vile Of Venom) performing vocal duties on Eternal Evil.

2016 saw the release of several other full releases; The Legacy Collection (December 5th, 2016) through a Kickstarter that raised $16,381, When Worlds Collide-Instrumental through a Kickstarter that raised $8,451, Bedlam through a Kickstarter that raised $13,383.  He was also a guest on the singles Zombie Suckers' Endless Sleep and No Buffer's East Versus West.

Two more Kickstarter campaigns raised funds to release Backroads ($12,275 raised) and The World Turned Upside Down ($8,186 raised) in 2017.  In November of that year a limited 50 copy EP called Trilogy was released; it featured Crying on a Saturday Night and its follow ups Dying On Sunday Morning and Feels Like I'm Dying.

Michale has continued to tour throughout the release of all of his albums.  He has also been involved in making videos for some of his songs since 2013, 6 in all so far; Zombie (2013), Wanderer (2014), Zombies (2014), Half Human (2014) and Ripper (2015), Old Dark House (2016).

Michale didn't grow up horror punk nor was he a fiend in his formative years but the work he did with The Misfits™ reinvented the genre and fueled a new interest in it, leading to scores of new horror punk bands.  His music after The Misfits™ has proven he is a competent songwriter with something to say; who knows what Michale would/could have accomplished if he hadn't taken on the enviable (or is it unenviable) task of fronting Jerry's version of the Misfits.