Going All The Way: Starting Over with The Getters

By Nick May, Photography by Rick Cooper

– – “You guys are the best, and I’ve loved every second of this band. Last night was amazing, and I want [the band] to go all the way.”

Those were the last words Grey Talkington, Kenton Baker, Judah Tuvyana, and Alec Wicker ever heard from their best friend and former bandmate, Joe Kinch. The words were sent via text message. Their band, The Seems, underwent a transition at the time and were becoming The Getters.

The five had been friends since high school. As The Seems, they explored an array of influences that each of them brought to the table as young, fledgling musicians. Together, they crafted a small body of work against the backdrop of Bay County’s often overlooked indie music scene, as so many before them have done. It’s a hard place to make alternative music, Panama City. Many bands spend the entirety of their short lifespans merely coming to terms with what it is about the city that can be extracted. When they find it, it’s often quite special.

Now, in the wake of their friend’s untimely death, The Getters are attempting to extract something more than just influence. Talkington, Baker, Tuvyana, and Wicker say that rebooting the band was a decision from way back; one that Kinch even had a part in making.

Nick: Why the change from The Seems to The Getters?

Grey: We needed something with a new meaning.

Kenton: It was happening with Joe. We were on this major hype.

Grey: Before anything happened, we were going to change the name. It was actually Joe’s idea. Joe was always the directional one. Setting up this interview would have been him.

Nick: Does the name change bring along any new direction?

Judah: The music has developed quite a bit.

Alec: Yes. We’re not doing any of our old stuff anymore.

Grey: It’s a drastic change. Everything from the time we spend, to the style, to the recording/writing process. We’re putting in a lot more effort and only carrying over the positive aspects.

Nick: How would you describe your new sound?

Grey: More raw, surf rocky and fun than we have ever sounded before. [For a reference, listen to “Prom Night” from The Seems  “Dog Day” EP on iTunes.]

Nick: Is it something you feel like all bands should do at least once? Start over?

Grey: Yes! We like to think we’ve grown as a result of it.

Nick: Have there been any other dynamic changes? Any new members?

Grey: We went through the process of trying people out, and then we called Judah. [laughs]

Judah: These are my best friends, so I’ve always been around. Grey and I started writing lyrics together, and I eventually started playing bass with them.

Grey: One thing Judah has definitely done, after the fallout of Joe, is brought energy to the garage that we didn’t think we would see again. When we saw it, we thought, this could work.

Kenton: It was very important in getting back on our feet.

Grey: Really, the whole thing of getting back in the garage was emotional. It had been like a month since we’d done anything, but the last text we got from Joe was basically: “Guys, keep playing music. This band’s gonna go on forever.”

Alec: We kind of felt like it was something we had to do now.

Nick: Is there pressure on any one band member in filling that space left behind?

Grey: We consider ourselves a new band, so we spread that void between the four of us.

Nick: What role has Joe’s death played as a creative catalyst?

Kenton: He was the sparkplug. That driving force. The biggest thing to me was keeping that spirit in the band moving forward.

Grey: It’s been tough. Making it work. Rising to that challenge.

Nick: What makes you guys different from other indie bands out there?

Grey: Usually when people say they’ve got a band, it’s just about expressing themselves, but we want to make something people can listen to, as well.

Kenton: And we still think that can be art.

Grey: It takes a lot of work, thinking, oh, that’s something people might find really loud. Let’s think about the people listening to this on headphones, for example. We also take a lot of pride in our unique creativity; coming up with stuff only we can come up with.

Nick: What can we be looking forward to from The Getters in the months ahead?

Alec: Definitely an album. End of the summer would be a perfect situation.

Judah: We would like to go with a summer/surf-pop theme.

Kenton: We’ll be going into the studio (Studio 812) Producer, Corey Gann.

Grey: In the meantime, you can catch us live at places like A&M Theatre, The Ghetto Palace, or other special events. Get all the info on our Instagram: @TheGettersBand.

At Joe’s memorial service, one of the band members performed a song using Kinch’s own guitar. Afterward, in a moment that seems eerily prophetic, a guitar pick belonging to Kinch was shaken from the wooden hollow of his guitar, landing in the palm of his bandmate. Grey, Kenton, Judah, and Alec now have to find and preserve the gifts their friend Joe left behind. For The Getters, there is no question about what lies ahead. They have no choice. They’re planning (as Joe once put it) “to go all the way.”

Update from the editor on May 5, 2016: The Getters are now calling themselves Rookie Riot. Look them up @rookieriot