Meet the Lithuanian rock band, Timid Kooky!

Vilnius, Lithuania’s Timid Kooky have recently dropped their new single ‘Westley Snypes’. The latter is taken from their new EP, Baby Be My Spiderman, which is out now on major streaming platforms. The guys were kind enough to answer a couple of questions linked to this release for us. Check out the full interview below!

Hello Timid Kooky, thanks for your time. Would you mind introducing your band to our readers?

Hello, readers! We are a legendary rock band from Lithuania! We started out back in 2015 when Vaporwave was still alive and for the next 2 years we consistently met up in this soviet calculator factory called “Sigma” to jam and grow together as musicians. During those 2 years we played only the bestest riffs possible and little by little around 2017 we started feeling like this after-class jam session is morphing into something bigger.

So, we put together a couple of songs and applied to the two biggest young band competitions around. We won them both and earned the title “Best young band in the Baltics”. This was all fun, but it was also strange, because the music we played wasn’t really an easy listen. At the time it seemed that after the indie and psych wave people were craving for some raw, uncontrolled energy, which we were more than ready to supply. And now, because of quarantine, we feel the energy has built up even more and we are on our way to you, flying through the air on our three seat Davidson XR-750.

How would you describe the rock scene in Vilnius, Lithuania? Any local bands you guys are currently listening to or we should keep an eye on?

The rock and music scene in general in Lithuania is seeing a kind of a renaissance. Over the last decade there has been a lot of up and coming new artists, who in the last three years managed to evolve into quality music production brands, competing with the world-class music scene. You should check out Free Finga, CHERI, Jonas Drema, Garbanotas, Abudu. Justinas Jarutis, Solo Ansamblis, Migloko, Frank Fitts, Kamanių Šilelis, Ministry of Echology, Arklio Galia, Monikaze, Palmės Žiedas. Kabloonak, Daujotas, Akli, Loroparquette, EGOMAŠINA, shishi, Umiko Kotori, ba., dadcap, Erdvė, Deeper Upper, Džiazlaif.

You’re back with a new EP, “Baby Be My Spiderman”. How long have you worked on this EP and where did you find your overall inspiration?

Džiugas: We worked on this EP for the whole year of quarantine. We had some ideas and beginnings before, but the ideas didn’t fit together. Our inspiration started from the idea to make the next album more straight-forward, approachable for a wider audience and bring back the rock’n’roll classics as much as we could, defying our constant urge to make everything complex and neurotic. The main reference for the general sound of the EP was a cover of Neil Young’s “The Loner” by Ty Segall. We loved the guitar mass wave through the whole song and tried to make the whole album jive this way. Of course, during the creative process, it was a great opportunity to dive deeper into the classics like ZZ Top, Judas Priest, ACDC, Deep Purple etc. 

Dovydas: Idea wise – the inspiration came from the general dissatisfaction with oneself. The pop psychology we face in social media these days is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and reaching for the stars. Nothing wrong with that, but what if sometimes you’re unknowingly pushing yourself towards the wrong direction? Somewhere far far away from who you truly are? Towards becoming someone more toxic than you could ever Imagine. You start having those uncontrollable anxiety moments whenever somebody challenges your opinion and you’re afraid that your ego is about to be shattered into pieces.

We wanted to create an EP that shows the transformation of a person who starts understanding oneself and realising that whatever he (or she) was doing before wasn’t really authentic and congruent with one’s real goals and dreams. It’s an album about the emerging self and the challenges you have to face in order to not to drown in the abyss that is one’s ego. Also we wanted to do a very ROCKING ROCK’N’ROLL ROCK MUSIC banger album that punches you just in the right spot of your gut. 

If you had to pick one song that, according to you, best reflects the overall spirit of this EP… Which one would you pick and why?

Džiugas: Ty Segall’s cover of Neil Young’s “The Loner”.

Dovydas: Metallica – Phantom Lord, because of how ‘in your face’ it is and how ridiculously extreme the song gets with the intense lead guitar shreds and a nice and on point thrash punk vibe.

You stated that you were “touring so much with the first album that you didn’t have time to sit down”. I guess you must be pretty excited to go back on stage! Do you already have some dates planned for 2021 / 2022?

We have a couple of shows booked for Europe in Autumn 2021 but we can’t be sure, because of the quarantine and vaccine situation. We definitely are very hyped to get back on track and continue serving the bestest riffs to the hangry people.

To finish, what is one lesson you’ve learned that you think is important to pass onto other bands?

Džiugas: 

1. The more mistakes, the faster the progress. 
2. Create only what you enjoy and appreciate.
3. Find and hang with people of your interests.
4. Be open to listen and respect your bandmate’s opinion.
5. Visualize where you wanna be in five or ten years and decide on the target together with your team.

Dovydas: Always strive towards a better understanding of self – no one knows you better than you do. Never forget to spend that extra moment to cherish the music and the memories you’ve made throughout your whole path as a musician. Keep on boppin’ never stoppin’.

Thanks for your time!