Paul Caiafa (born September 15, 1964), known professionally as Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, is an American guitarist best known for his material with the

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by t ...

band the

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

and his own band eponymously named

Doyle Doyle is a surname of Irish origin. The name is a back-formation from O'Doyle, which is an Anglicisation of the Irish (), meaning "descendant of ''Dubhghall''". There is another possible etymology: the Anglo-Norman surname ''D'Oyley'' with aggl ...

Education

Raised in

Lodi, New Jersey Lodi (; ) is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 26,207, an increase of 2,070 (+8.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census coun ...

, he started attending Lodi High School two years following his brother Jerry's graduation. He played on the school's football team for all four years and graduated in 1982.

Career

1980–1983: Misfits (Glenn Danzig era) guitarist

Doyle, the younger brother of the Misfits bassist,

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup exce ...

, was originally a roadie for the band and was taught how to play guitar by lead vocalist

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, film director and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He ...

and Jerry. He joined the Misfits in October 1980 at the age of 16. Doyle was the band's third guitarist, replacing

Bobby Steele Bobby Steele (born Robert Charles Kaufhold; March 18, 1956) is an American punk rock musician. He is the current guitar player, singer, songwriter, and sole original member of the horror punk band The Undead. He has been a member of multiple o ...

after Steele failed to show up to a recording session.Misfits 12 Hits From Hell – FAQ
/ref> Jerry and Doyle financed the band by working at their father's machine shop. Like Glenn and Jerry, Doyle incorporated the

devilock The devilock is a hairstyle created by Misfits bassist Jerry Only in the late 1970s. In an early 1980s interview, Jerry Only claimed that the devilock was based on a "tidal wave" hairstyle seen among the 1970s skateboarding communities. In the sa ...

into his image. Doyle-misfits

1987–1989: Kryst the Conqueror

In 1987, four years after the dissolution of the Misfits, Doyle and Jerry formed the metal band Kryst The Conqueror with

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

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 David Michael Sabo (born September 16, 1964), nicknamed The Snake, is an American musician best known as one of the guitarists of heavy metal band Skid Row. Biography Pre-Skid Row Sabo was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and grew up in nearby ...

of the rock band

Skid Row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

1995–2000: Misfits guitarist

In 1995 Jerry Only settled a legal battle out of court with co-founder Glenn Danzig, effectively allowing Only the rights to the band's name on a performing level.The Jerry Only Interview
Doyle and Jerry reformed the Misfits in 1995, with Jerry acting as the band's figurehead and with

Michale Graves 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 ...

as vocalist and

Dr. Chud David Calabrese, known professionally as Dr. Chud, is an American horror punk drummer best known for his work with the Misfits (band), Misfits. He has also been a member of Graves (band), Graves, Gorgeous Frankenstein, Doyle (band), Doyle and Bl ...

as drummer. The group released two full-length albums of new material.

2000s: Touring with Danzig and forming Gorgeous Frankenstein

In 2005, Doyle left New Jersey for Las Vegas and began auditioning members for his own band, Gorgeous Frankenstein. The same year, he appeared on stage with Danzig numerous times throughout Danzig's Blackest of the Black tour. They would meet again in 2007, when Gorgeous Frankenstein played their first tour, opening for Danzig. This line up included

Argyle Goolsby Argyle Goolsby (born Steve Matthews; September 15, 1978) is an American musician, best known for being the lead vocalist, bassist and co-founder of horror punk band Blitzkid (1997–present). When Blitzkid disbanded in 2012, Goolsby pursued a ...

Blitzkid Blitzkid is an American horror punk band from Bluefield, West Virginia. One of the leading proponents of the horror punk scene, the band is led by singer/guitarist TB Monstrosity and singer/bassist Argyle Goolsby. Active from 1997 until 2012 and ...

, Dr. Chud and Gorgeous George. Doyle has since joined them on several occasions to play 30-minute-long sets of classic Misfits songs.DANZIG, DOYLE To Perform At 10th Annual NO LOVE PARTY – Nov. 12, 2005
During the latter quarter of 2011, former vocalist Danzig and guitarist Doyle performed Misfits songs on four occasions as part of the "Danzig Legacy" tour. The first of the four shows, which took place on October 7 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

as one of the headlining acts at

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival held at Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest is one of the largest independently-owned music fe ...

, saw a sold-out crowd of 5,000+. The last true "Legacy" show took place on

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

at the

Gibson Amphitheater Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California, within Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a production of ''Jesus Christ ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with an over sold crowd of 7,000+. In 2012, "Danzig and Doyle" headlined several worldwide Festivals and did around 70+ shows together. Danzig would play his set before Doyle would join him onstage to perform a set of Misfits songs.

2010s: Solo act

The year 2013 saw the inception of Doyle's solo effort, eponymously named "Doyle". The band features Alex Story of Cancerslug on vocals, Dr. Chud of the second-era Misfits on drums, and "Left Hand" Graham on bass. The debut album, '' Abominator'', was released digitally through INgrooves/

Fontana Distribution Fontana Distribution was a division of San Franciscobased Isolation Network (now owned by the Virgin Music Group unit of the Universal Music Group since 2019). A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until Ingrooves acquired ...

on July 30, 2013, through

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

, and other streaming services like

Deezer Deezer is a List of companies of France, French music streaming service and media service provider founded in 2007 that provides users with access to a vast library of music tracks, podcasts, and radio stations. It offers streaming services in ...

. It was distributed by Altavoz (USA),

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

(Japan) and Cargo Records (Europe). 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 Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

and FYE. There is an "advance copy" 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 Alan Robert (born 1971) is an American musician and comic book creator. He is known as the bassist for the alternative metal band Life of Agony, his work on his graphic novels ''Wire Hangers'', '' Crawl to Me'' and ''Killogy'', as well as his ho ...

, bassist of

Life of Agony Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Keith Caputo, bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most notably their 1993 debut '' ...

, for a special Halloween 2014 issue of Robert's award-winning ''Killogy'' comic 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 IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. Doyle set out on the 2015 "Abominator Tour" in March, hitting the road as an opening act for

Mushroomhead Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...

through April, with headlining dates continuing after into May. Dr. Chud left the band shortly before the band's first tour "Annihilate America" in 2014, and was replaced by Anthony "Tiny" Biuso midway through the 2015 tour. Shortly after, "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, the latest tour drummer of Black Flag. "Left Hand" Graham was replaced for the 2015 tour and the band featured DieTrich Thrall on bass instead. On May 12, 2016, it was announced that Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, and Doyle would perform together as "The Original Misfits" for the first time in 33 years. They reunited for two headlining shows in September 2016 at the

and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Playing style and equipment

Paul Doyle Caiafa playing with Danzig at Wacken Open Air 2013 06

Doyle's guitar playing style consists heavily of downstrokes and

power chord A power chord , also called a fifth chord, is a colloquial name for a chord on guitar, especially on electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly pla ...

s. He admits to limited facility on guitar, believing "great songs" are more important than instrumental skill in achieving professional success. Early on in Doyle's career, he used an

Ibanez Iceman The Ibanez Iceman is a guitar produced by Hoshino Gakki under the Ibanez brand. Background Hoshino Gakki exported copies of American electric and acoustic guitars in the 1950s, and by the mid-1970s the Ibanez guitars had reached a level of quali ...

guitar. However, after experimenting with guitars in

Kryst the Conqueror Kryst the Conqueror (pronounced "Christ") was an American Christian metal project formed in August 1987 by two former members of the horror punk band, The Misfits. The project was led by bassist Jerry Only, who adopted a new stage name, "Mo the ...

, Doyle developed his custom-made "Annihilator" guitar using his experience as a machinist to design and build the guitar himself. The bat shape was inspired by his love of

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. These guitars have

neck-through Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or more laminated ...

design with a

graphite Graphite () is a Crystallinity, crystalline allotrope (form) of the element carbon. It consists of many stacked Layered materials, layers of graphene, typically in excess of hundreds of layers. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable ...

body and are loaded with a

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

Invader pickup, and are strung with Dean Markley strings. The guitar was made without external

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

s on the body, as guitars with external screws scratched and cut his skin when he played shirtless.Premier Guitars (October 23, 2013)
Rig Rundown – Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Youtube.com, accessed October 5, 2020 In the 2000s, Doyle collaborated with October Guitars (now spelled "Oktober") to recreate the "Annihilator" with a signature pickup. Despite this, Doyle still uses his own Annihilator because Oktober were not able to make them the exact way that he preferred. In February 2022, he collaborated with

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass gu ...

on a signature Annihilator guitar that will come loaded with his signature Sheptone pickup. The guitar more or less comes with the exact same specs as original but with custom fret markers that show music notes instead of the traditional white dots. It is priced at US$9,999. Since the mid-1990s he has used a Demeter TGP-3 rack preamp that feeds an

Ampeg Ampeg ("amplified peg") is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guit ...

SVT bass head. His speaker cabinets are his own design, and have

Celestion Celestion is a British designer and exporter of professional loudspeakers. History Origins What became Celestion was started in Hampton Wick (suburban London) in 1924. Cyril French and his three brothers had taken over a plating works and ...

speakers. His pedalboard has a

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pro ...

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.

Personal life

Doyle married

Stephanie Bellars Stephanie Bellars (born January 25, 1976) is an American former professional wrestling valet. She is mostly known for her tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Gorgeous George, the kayfabe manager of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. After WC ...

in 2001. The couple have one daughter. He has three sons from previous relationships. The couple has since divorced, which was finalized in 2013. Doyle's first girlfriend at Lodi High School was Darlene Murray. Since 2013, Doyle has been in a domestic partnership with

Alissa White-Gluz Alissa White-Gluz (; born 31 July 1985) is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band The Agonist. Her vocal ...

, vocalist of the Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

. The couple are vegan.

Discography

Misfits

* ''

Walk Among Us ''Walk Among Us'' is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released in March 1982 by Ruby Records and its parent label Slash Records. It was the first full-length album to be released by the band, although it was the th ...

'' (1982) * ''

Evilive ''Evilive'' is a live album by the American punk rock band Misfits. It was initially released as a 7-song EP in December 1982 and later added 5 more songs and released as an album in October 1987. It was released on frontman Glenn Danzig's ...

'' (1982) * '' Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood'' (1983) * ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

'' (1997) * ''

Evillive II ''Evilive II'' (also known as ''Evillive'') is a 1998 live album by the American punk rock band Misfits. Featuring the "resurrected" Misfits lineup of vocalist Michale Graves, bassist Jerry Only, guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, and ...

'' (1998) – live album * ''

Famous Monsters ''Famous Monsters'' is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released on October 5, 1999. It is the second in the post- Danzig era of the band, and the last album to feature Michale Graves, Dr. Chud and Doyle Wolfgang ...

'' (1999) * '' Cuts from the Crypt'' (2001) – compilation album

Kryst the Conqueror

* ''

Deliver Us from Evil The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, Will of God, will, and Kingship and kingdom of God, kingdom, as well as h ...

'' (1989)

Gorgeous Frankenstein

* ''Gorgeous Frankenstein'' (2007)

Doyle

* '' Abominator'' (2013) * ''Doyle II: As We Die'' (2017)

Video

* ''You Must See It to Believe It'' (2010) (Gorgeous Frankenstein DVD)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankenstein, Doyle Wolfgang von 1964 births Living people American lead guitarists American punk rock guitarists Horror punk musicians Misfits (band) members People from Lodi, New Jersey Lodi High School (New Jersey) alumni Guitarists from New Jersey American male guitarists American male bass guitarists 20th-century American guitarists American people of Italian descent American heavy metal guitarists Doyle (band) members Musicians from Bergen County, New Jersey