Horror Stories

You'd think that after all these years Jerry Only would be sick of answering questions about his former Misfits bandmate, the infamous Glenn Danzig. But when The Music (with some trepidation) raised the issue, Only's response was surprisingly philosophical.

“I used to get annoyed when people would constantly ask about Glenn and whether he was ever going to rejoin the Misfits,” laughs Only. “But that was only because I was unsure whether I'd done the right thing in getting the band back together. As soon as I was happy with what we were doing it didn't really matter anymore. When the self-confidence came back everything was okay.

“People think that Glenn and me have always hated each other and it's just not true,” adds Only. “I always liked Glenn. The only time we didn't get along was on the very last day of the band when we broke up all those years ago – I felt he'd put his personal issues above the band. As for how we are now – I'll tell you something; you can take this one to the bank: I wouldn't mind working with Glenn again. My brother Doyle works with Glenn, and he's treated well so I respect that. The most important thing in my mind though for this band is that nothing should ever get in the way of the productive message we have – I'm not into that devil shit. Nothing should get in the way of the positive ethos we have of never giving up and playing as hard to 20 people as we would to 20,000. Integrity is very important to me.”

It's a mark of Misfits' enduring mystique that the band's 'crimson ghost' logo has become a fashion item completely disconnected from the band's music. “Look, when you're trying to entertain or capture someone's attention you can do it with imagery as well as sound,” reasons Only. “Obviously we want people to be excited by our music, but if the imagery associated with our band excites people [as] well, I consider it as a win. It validates what we do. Besides, if hot models want to wear my skull on their underwear then I'm completely fine with that.”

Traditionally Misfits' brand of horror-themed punk rock has been intrinsically linked with Halloween. So it's all more surprising that the band recently released a Christmas 7” entitled Horror Xmas. What gives? “I've always loved Christmas,” Only confesses, “and now we all have kids [so] obviously Christmas is really important. We thought why not put a spin on Christmas that's related to what we do – so we put a creepy vibe into classics You're A Mean One, Mr Grinch, and Blue Christmas, and we're actually going to expand the release with some extra tracks early in 2014 – so look out for a mini album early-2014.”