FEAR OF FEAR: Doyle speaks!

Standing six feet three inches tall and sporting his signature corpse paint and devilock, Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein is a pioneering fiend of horror punk. Joined by singer Alex Story, bass player Brandon Strate, and drummer Wade Murff, the former Misfits guitarist is on the road supporting his second album, As We Die. Between stops on the As We Die World Abomination Tour, Doyle (born Paul Caiafa) took a few minutes to talk about Monsterman Records, playing new music, and the benefits of going vegan.

What inspired you to start Monsterman Records?

Pretty much to keep all the money. Labels don’t help bands with tour support anymore. We recorded the album at home, and I didn’t want to use whatever budget just to record. But I don’t think about the label too much. I work with other people for the label, who do a good job. I focus on keeping myself going so I can do what I want to do.

You’ve played some Misfits shows recently. Was that an energizing experience?

It was OK. I give the same energy and performance whether I’m playing to huge crowds or for 50 people. It’s all just another day at the office. I do have more fun playing songs that I wrote the music for, rather than songs that I didn’t write. We’re always writing new stuff. When we play, I let the singer write the setlist. He’s the one who’s gotta sing everything. To me, it’s all the same.

What inspired your vegan lifestyle and how has it affected you?

My vegan girlfriend, Alissa White-Gluz, and I were in New York City, running around because I had to get her to the airport. We were starving. She said, “If we don’t find me something to eat, we’ll find something for you.” I thought, fuck that. I’d never eat anything in front of her that bugs her out. So we started going to vegan restaurants together. Always, from the first bite of whatever I was having, it was like holy fuck! This food is so good! Everything is prepared with pride, and it makes me happy. Then she showed me some videos — like COWSPIRACY — and it was a no-brainer. The world is dying from us farming all of these fucking animals. Their piss and shit are destroying the planet. The gasoline it takes to move them around is destroying the planet. It’s a fuckshow, and it’s making everyone sick because the animals are full of drugs and hormones.

... And that barely touches on the cruelty aspect of the meat industry, too.

It’s horrible. We’re a superior species on this planet, and we’re enslaving and butchering these animals? One day, beings from somewhere else will come here and do that to us. That’s when people will start thinking about how fucked-up it is.

Talking about humans being eaten reminds me of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Which one do you think is a scarier film?

The original is way scarier. The concepts in that film and everything else …. The second one is more about the effects to make shit look more realistic. But really, they’re both the same story, if you ask me.

Doyle plays the Masquerade (Heaven) on Wed., Nov. 7. W/ With Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Haunt, Die 985, Hembree & the Satan Sisters, and the Aggravated. $20. 4:30 p.m. (doors). 75 MLK Jr. Drive SW. 404-577-8178. www.masq.com.