Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein

Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Background information
Birth name	Paul Caiafa
Born	(1964-09-15) September 15, 1964 Lodi, New Jersey
Genres	Hardcore punk, heavy metal, horror punk
Occupation(s)	Musician, bodybuilder, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, bass
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	The Misfits Kryst the Conqueror Gorgeous Frankenstein Doyle Danzig

Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (born Paul Caiafa on September 15, 1964 in Lodi, New Jersey), is an American guitarist best known for his material with the horror punk band the Misfits.

Life and career

Doyle, the younger brother of the Misfits bassist, Jerry Only, was originally a roadie for the band and was taught how to play guitar by Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only. He joined the Misfits in October 1980 at the age of 16. Doyle was the band's third guitarist, replacing Bobby Steele after Steele failed to show up to practice sessions. Like Glenn and Jerry, Doyle incorporated the Devilock into his image. Jerry and Doyle would finance the band by working at their father's shop.

In 1987, four years after the dissolution of the Misfits, Doyle and Jerry formed the metal band Kryst The Conqueror with drummer The Murp. Select songs from the album were released by Jerry Only's record label "Cyclopian Music" as an EP, and featured guest guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo of the rock band Skid Row.

In 1995 Jerry settled a legal battle out of court with co-founder Glenn Danzig, effectively allowing him rights to the band's name on a performing level. Doyle and Jerry reformed the Misfits in 1995, this time with Jerry acting as the band's figurehead and with Michale Graves as vocalist and Dr. Chud as drummer. The group released two full-length albums of new material.

In 2005, Doyle left New Jersey for Las Vegas, and began auditioning members for his own band, Gorgeous Frankenstein. In 2006, he appeared on stage with Danzig numerous times throughout their tour. They would meet again in 2007, when Gorgeous Frankenstein played their first tour, opening for Danzig. This line up included Argyle Goolsby of Blitzkid, Dr. Chud and Gorgeous George. Doyle has since joined them on several occasions to play 30-minute-long sets of classic Misfits songs.

Doyle claimed that a reunion effort with Glenn Danzig ceased further progression when "Jerry put a fuckin' monkey wrench in it. [In] 2002, we had meetings ... And [Jerry] kind of fucked it up, him and his manager. We were going to do a record, do a tour and everything." In September 2010, Gorgeous Frankenstein released a DVD, titled You Must See It To Believe It!

During the latter quarter of 2011, former vocalist Danzig and guitarist Doyle performed Misfits songs on four different occasions as part of the Danzig Legacy tour. The first of the four shows, which took place on October 7 in Chicago as one of the headlining acts at Riot Fest, saw a sold-out crowd of 5,000+. The last true Legacy show took place on Halloween at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles with an over sold crowd of 7,000+.

In 2012, Doyle once again played guitar on the Misfits songs during the Danzig Legacy tour.

2013 saw the inception of Doyle's solo effort, eponymously named "Doyle". The band features Alex Story of Cancerslug on vocals, Dr. C.H.U.D. of the second-era Misfits on drums, and Left Hand Graham on bass. The debut album, "Abominator", was released digitally on July 30, 2013 through iTunes, Google Play, and others. The album was independently produced and released by Doyle's own MonsterMan Records. The official CD release was in October, 2013 in major retailers such as Best Buy and FYE. There is an "advance copy" available that was sold at shows on the Danzig Legacy Tour, as well as from Doyle's official website. This pre-released advance is lacking a 13th track, released on the final cut, entitled 'Drawing Down The Moon.'

In May 2014, Doyle announced he was teaming up with Alan Robert, bassist of Life of Agony, for a special Halloween 2014 issue of Robert's award-winning Killogy series. Robert said that this was a continuation of his original Killogy comic series but issue will surround Doyle's character. The issue will be published by IDW Publishing.

In 2014, Doyle went vegan.

Doyle set out on the 2015 Abominator tour in March, hitting the road as an opening act for Mushroomhead through April, with headlining dates continuing after into May. Dr. CHUD left the band shortly before the band's first tour in 2014, and was replaced by Anthony "Tiny" Biuso. Left Hand Graham was replaced for the 2015 tour, the band featuring DieTrich Thrall on bass instead. Mid-way through the 2015 tour, "Tiny" stated that he would no longer be playing with the band, and would not continue on the remainder of the tour. A replacement was found immediately - Brandon Pertzborn, of Black Flag.

Playing style and equipment

Doyle's early guitar playing style consisted heavily of down strokes and power chords during which he used an Ibanez Iceman guitar. Later, after experimenting with guitars in Kryst the Conqueror, Doyle developed his custom-made Rand Annihilator guitar. In the 2000s, Doyle collaborated with October Guitars (now spelled "Oktober") to recreate the Annihilator along with a signature pickup. But Doyle still uses his own Annihilators because Oktober: "don't make them the way that I want". These guitars are loaded with a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup, and are strung with Dean Markley strings. Since the mid 90's he has used a Demeter TGP-3 rack preamp, that feeds the power in on an Ampeg SVT bass head. His speaker cabinets are his own design, and have Celestion speakers. His pedalboard has a TC Electronic Chorus/Flanger, an MXR Micro Flanger, Digitech Whammy IV pedal, a Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah, an Ampeg Scrambler, a Vox Time Machine delay. In his amp rack, there is an ISP Decimator, and a Digitech Valve Distortion. Plus Line 6 G50 wireless systems.

Relationships

As of 2015 Doyle has been in a relationship with current Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz. Doyle was married to Stephanie Bellars from 2001 to 2014 and have one daughter, Boriss, and one son named Isaac who was born in 1992. The couple's divorce was finalised in October 2013.

Discography

The Misfits

• Walk Among Us (1982) - album
• Evilive (1982) - live album
• Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood (1983) - album
• American Psycho (1997) - album
• Famous Monsters (1999) - album

Kryst The Conqueror

• Deliver Us From Evil (1989) - album

Gorgeous Frankenstein

• Gorgeous Frankenstein (2007)

Doyle

• Abominator (2013) US: +9200

DVD

• You Must See It To Believe It! (2010) - DVD

External links

• Doyle official website