Wilson Getchell shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Wilson, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: Who are you learning from right now?
For the past 18 months or so, I’ve been going through a huge Brian Wilson phase. I’ve always liked the Beach Boys and was fairly familiar with their catalog through Pet Sounds (1966), but I hadn’t explored much from the following decade (1967-77) and the long awaited Smile release in 2004. I’ve been learning a lot of Brian Wilson songs on piano lately. His songwriting has really blown my mind and it has really had a huge impact on my songwriting over past year or so, particularly in regards to key modulation and harmonies. It’s reenergized me on the songwriting front and taught me a great deal. It’s really broadened my perspective. He really was a genius.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriting best known as the frontman/band leader of Thirsty Curses, an eclectic rock n roll band I formed in 2017, shortly after moving to Raleigh. Thirsty Curses is known for our raw, but sophisticated songwriting and compelling lyrics. We’re all over the place genre-wise, but always under the broad umbrella of rock ‘n roll. There’s really no one else who sounds like Thirsty Curses or is doing what we do. But also, because of how eclectic the Thirsty Curses songs are, we have something for everybody. That is, we tend to appeal to a lot of different musical tastes. There’s definitely some classic rock sensibilities in my songwriting (a la The Beatles, Beach Boys, David Bowie), but also punk and grunge undertones, as well as swing and country twang.
We just released our fifth studio album, Music is a Scam, on which we worked with famed producer John Agnello. There’s a song on that album, “Reading & Writing”, which, I think, is the song I’d point people to as an introduction to the band. Another good one to sample our range is the music video mash up of “One of These Days” & “Nothing Really Matters”.
There’s been a significant amount of turnover over the years. I’ve been the only constant member since 2017, but along the way, there were significant contributions from our on-again-off-again lead guitarist Kelley Otwell and the bass player from 2019-2024, Clayton Herring, who directed half a dozen or so of our music videos.
I’ve been playing in bands as long as I can remember and was pretty nomadic after high school. I grew up in Richmond, VA and then moved to Flagstaff, AZ for two years, Austin, TX for six, Washington, DC for two, then back to Flagstaff for two more years, followed by a short stint in New Hampshire before ultimately landing in Raleigh. I also spent a couple summers in Moscow, Russia. After having bounced around for a while, I was eager to put down some roots somewhere and forming a band, which is what I did once I got to Raleigh.
Over the last eight years, Thirsty Curses has released five albums, a handful of standalone singles, and a slew of well-crafted music videos. I’ve also done numerous solo side projects, including a couple releases from this year (“Monkey on Your Back” and “Life in the Circus”). I’m fairly prolific in my songwriting, so there’s always new music being developed.
Currently, Thirsty Curses is promoting the new album, Music is a Scam, and I’m working on developing some new songs. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve recently been going through a big Brian Wilson thing which has energized me to write a lot of new material. I’m extremely excited about these news songs and am currently trying to finish up a few and get them recorded.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
I don’t think anything breaks the bonds between people as much as a loss of trust. Restoring a loss of trust is a long, difficult, multi-step process, but has to begin with the offending party’s willingness to be accountable and make amends, and for the other party to be open to forgiveness. Forgiveness can be hard to come by though if it isn’t sought/requested.
Put differently, to restore those bonds, the person who lost the other’s trust has to knock on the door, but the other person has to be willing to answer the door. From there it can be a slow moving process, but takes goodwill and willingness from all parties involved.
I know in my personal life, I’ve been on both sides of that. I’ve had situations where I’ve had a falling out with someone over a loss of trust, and although I stood willing and open to forgive and to attempt to rebuild the affected relationship, no overtures of accountability were ever made by the other party, which makes reconciling pretty difficult. On the other hand, I’ve had times when I was the offending party, and tried to make amends and be accountable, but the other party was not interested in reconciling, which can be disappointing, but is just something one has to accept. Sometimes a loss of trust can be terminal to relationships/personal bonds.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There’s a lot of struggle and disappointment one experiences as an independent original musician. It can lead to a lot of feelings of dejection and worthlessness. Of course, it can be transcendent and euphoric as well.
But some of those low times can be pretty low. As a result, there’s been times I’ve toyed with giving up on making music or at least trying to scale back its centrality in my life. But truth be told, I don’t think it’d be possible because I frankly don’t know what else to do with myself. It’s my raison d’être, warts and all.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yeah, more or less…. My songs represent the real me, albeit sometimes shaded in figurative language. But my music is personally honest, sometimes perhaps too honest. In many ways it’s my therapeutic crutch; writing songs has always been a way for me to process what’s going on in my own life and the world around me. So someone would certainly get a better sense of the real me from listening to my music than from interviews I’ve given or from reviewing my social media posts.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I have a line in the opening song, “One of These Days”, to our 2022 album To The Ends of the Earth that is “all I ever wanted is a seat at the table of rock n roll, if Robert Pollard taught me anything it’s that I’m an incurable…”
I’d love for my contributions to the great pantheon of rock n roll to be remembered at all. I’ve never particularly aspired to be famous. Most of my heroes are more the blue-collar rock n roll types such as Robert Pollard from Guided by Voices, Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, Todd Snider, Jeffrey Lewis, David Berman from the Silver Jews, etc. But I would like to be artistically respected by my peers. In short, it’d be rad to be remembered as a capable and genuine artist.
On a personal level, I hope people remember me as kind, caring, and empathetic, if albeit a bit of a mess/crazy person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thirstycurses.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirsty_curses
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/ThirstyCurses
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThirstyCurses
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirstyCurses
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@ThirstyCurses
Thirsty Curses on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/3H2SNIWzM4KVAuKBC5i5f0?si=miGToI43Qm61-jUpFP8TIQ
Wilson Getchell on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vVgsLGU7Y7zwfVrZo2yN3?si=7k__5Et3TKeAr4odVub2yg
