Thieves and Villains
Location
New York
Bio
Having met each other through the forever-challenging New York music scene, the members of THIEVES AND VILLAINS were joined together in early 2007 not only by fate, but also by a shared goal of writing heartfelt, timeless music. Lead vocalist/guitarist Sergio Otaegui found a musical soulmate in guitarist/vocalist Chris Pennings. The two are matched perfectly by John Bell on drums and Justin Speca on bass.
With all the members fresh out of their teens, fans and critics alike are continuously amazed by the fluidity of their songs and their mature, yet delightfully entertaining pop sensibility. The name THIEVES AND VILLAINS was chosen not because they are inherently bad people. In fact, quite the opposite is true. “We never want to do anything sketchy to get ahead in life. We called our collective band “thieves” and “villains,” so that in “real life” we actually wouldn’t have to be,” says vocalist Sergio Otaegui.
THIEVES AND VILLAINS realized that their talents could only take them so far and knew that it was time to roll up their proverbial sleeves and get to work. In less than a year, the band began attracting national attention. Sharing the stage with such acts as The Hush Sound, Mayday Parade, Between the Trees and more, they booked two full U.S. tours without the help of a booking agent, perfected their live show with several east coast runs, appeared on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, and all the while kept growing, writing and adapting. Victory Records took notice in late 2007 and offered them a contract in February 2008.
In order to create the masterpiece that is their debut album, Movement, the band moved into a lake house in upstate New York during April 2008. The setting (and the daily soundtrack of universally agreed-upon inspiring, yet diverse artists ranging from Third Eye Blind to Kanye West to Explosions in the Sky to Stevie Wonder and more) allowed them to maximize their already impeccable creativity and impressive work ethic. The result? A record worthy of skipping out on a much-dreaded “genre label.” “We feel that once people hear this record, they will have a hard time pigeon-holing us to any one genre,” noted Otaegui. We just aimed to write heartfelt songs with honest lyrics, interesting music and enjoyable melodies.”
Produced by Paul Leavitt (All Time Low, Senses Fail, Circa Survive), 2008's Movement documents what the band describes as the “best and worst” time of its life. The album was given its moniker because every track addresses the endearing concept of growth and making valuable contributions to the world on both a personal and mass level. As Otaegui notes: “This record is OUR contribution to the world, it’s OUR movement, and we hope that it helps inspire others to create theirs.”
