REJUVENATED
Company of Thieves ‘more clear than ever’ after yearslong hiatus
Taking some time off has helped Genevieve Schatz focus more. It’s also helped spark a creative flow for Marc Walloch and Chris Faller.
The trio is known as Company of Thieves and the band is enjoying its time back on the road, opening for Walk the Moon.
“It’s going so well,” Schatz says in a recent interview. “It’s been really great to be back on the road.”
Company of Thieves formed in Chicago after Schatz and Walloch met on a train station platform in Chicago and bonded over a love of The Beatles.
The pair started making music together, along with Faller, and went on to self-release their first record, “Ordinary Riches” in 2007.
The band was discovered at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, when a record executive wandered into one of their shows after hearing them from the street.
With a signed record deal at WindUp Records, the band played late-night TV and toured the country endlessly.
“Running From a Gamble” in 2011 followed up the first album, and then the band decided to take a break from making music as a band.
Walloch went onto play bass for Awolnation and Schatz pursued a solo EP, touring with Faller.
Recently, Company of Thieves released the single “Treasure,” its first release in six years.
Schatz says an EP will follow on Feb. 23.
“We’re more clear than ever,” she says of the band. “When we were younger and started the band, we had basically just graduated from high school. We were playing shows for the album we released independently. And then we started touring the country. We never had a break. It was tough. Coming back to the music, we have a newfound appreciation for things. We loved it back then. Today, it just means something different for us.”
Schatz says the reunion of sorts came about organically.
She and Walloch began meeting up to write.
“We didn’t have a goal,” she says. “Playing music together is more than anything we could have asked for. The songs on the EP, that’s what came out of us. We realized it was a Company of Thieves record. All of it just presented itself, and we’re rolling with it.”
Getting the opening slot on Walk the Moon’s tour is exciting for Schatz.
“We were a band way before social media took over,” she says. “A lot of people have been telling us that they are finding our music through streaming services and such. It’s great to have this new base of fans.”