Myke Hideous is an American gothic rocksinger and songwriter from New Jersey. He is the founder and frontman of the East Coast gothic rock band The Empire Hideous, which was active throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. He also performed with The Bronx Casket Co., Spy Society 99 and the Misfits as a fill-in vocalist.
Life and career
The Early Empire Hideous Years
Myke Hideous formed The Empire Hideous in 1988, for which he was the lead singer and songwriter. The group issued its first recording, a 12" EP titled The Empire Hideous in 1990. Although the band went through numerous personnel changes throughout the 1990s, they released two subsequent EPs, a live album and a live studio recording. The band toured throughout the USA during the 1990s. Myke crafted an enigmatic and brooding stage persona and would become known among fans for his often shocking stage antics, including being whipped in between songs, donning a crown of thorns, and inserting hypodermic needles into his flesh.
Performing with the Misfits
Hideous auditioned for the Misfits' original reformation in 1995, losing out to Michale Graves. The following year, Mark Steiner released a documentary film entitled To Build an Empire, about The Empire Hideous. In 1998, he was hired as a fill-in vocalist for the Misfits when Michale Graves took an indefinite hiatus because he did not want to go on an extensive tour outside the United States. He performed vocals durning the band's shows on the Europe and South America tours that summer, but Graves returned to the band after the tour was completed.
2000's
After his Misfits experience, Myke Hideous briefly fronted his horror punk side project, Spy Society 99 and The Bronx Casket Co., with whom he recorded the albums The Bronx Casket Company, Sweet Home Transylvania, and Hellectric, all credited as "Spy". In 2003, Myke released a new studio album, Say Your Prayers. Myke felt inspired to resurrect The Empire Hideous shortly after 9/11 when a friend remarked, “if ever there were a time for The Empire Hideous to resurface as America’s number one, apocalyptic gothic rock band, now would be that time". Myke reunited with former guitarist Jeff Austin for the record and it was met positively by fans. In 2009, Myke announced he would be working on his final album and also began collaborating on the documentary Living the American Nightmare: The Story of a Rockstar. This documentary features Myke Hideous as the main subject, and is loosely based around his 2002 memoir. It includes footage of his early concerts, along with interviews from Myke and many musicians who had worked with him over the years. It also includes Peter Steele's final interview before his death in April, 2010. At the beginning of 2011, Myke released his final album of new material, The Time Has Come. This record included the cover song "Moving in Stereo" by The Cars as a free download on his website to commemorate the death of his long-time friend Peter Steele, as it was one of Steele's favorite songs. Within the next year, Myke also released his Spy Society 99 material for the first time on CD, Die Punk, Die, a 12 track album featuring nine songs only previously available on cassette and three new tracks and an album of remixes, Remixes Through Time. Some tracks from Remixes Through Time were included in the Living the American Nightmare: The Story of a Rockstar documentary. In 2016, Myke Hideous re-released his autobiography titled King of an Empire to the Shoes of a Misfit: The Memoirs of Myke Hideous. It includes an added chapter, chronicling his professional and personal life from 2002-2013. Myke Hideous considers himself officially retired from music, and focuses on his art and photography. He lives in rural Pennsylvania with his wife, Kyly.
