The Head of Knights – the beautiful new vocal single from Polish-born, Berlin-based musician, performer, writer and model Vincent Littlehat – is released today via her newly formed label Littlehat Recordings.
A mesmerising slice of thought-provoking, introspective alt-pop and the first in a series of singles to be released over the latter part of this year and early in 2023, The Head of Knights is about a temporary change in perspective; from being an actor in the live events space to becoming a wider narrator of summed up experiences. This new position enables learning from all kinds – positive as well as painful – recognizing that wisdom comes from synthesizing both aspects of reality.
We caught up with Vincent to find out more…
Follow Vincent @vincentlittlehat
Hi Vincent, please tell us a little about yourself?
Hi, thank you for inviting me to share my perspectives with your readers.
I’m a poet who loves music and who is discovering her voice. Stretching and wrapping words in melodies. I’m the scriptwriter of my videos and would-be therapist. In a way, I am returning to that path and might will-be one. That’s what I personally found art to do for me, soothe and expand my vision.
I always wanted to become an artist but the realization of this plan wasn’t implemented confidently until I gave priority to my intuition and decided to change the course of my education. I took time away from plan A, which was studying psychology. This interest in inner investigation remained but instead of finding answers in books and at the lectures, I gave the quest to experiencing different roles in life. That is also why the way I decided to share my perceptions is not academic and serious but poetic. Intimate and one that gives a lot of room for interpretation.
For me an important part of my expression is the visual one, I can’t resist making a music video to almost every song. To be able to share directly what I am imagining. Although I understand that giving others space for their interpretation is important and what makes it interactive.
I try to not get caught up in the complexity and obscure anything by applying too intellectual explanations. Occam’s razor is my favorite tool.
We’re sure you have been asked this million times but how did you get into the music industry?
I didn’t get into the music industry; the music industry got into me. I enjoyed to read and write fictional stories, especially short forms, I was curious how would it sound if I write lyrics myself. Then without knowing how to use any instrument not digital software for music composing I challenged myself with making sketches. They caught the interest of producers and music professionals and we have been in each others orbit ever since. People were always genuine about sharing their experience with me, teaching me how to use tools and structures within Ableton. Gave feedback about my vocals. I learnt by doing, taking small next steps driven by curiosity. Consistency and sharing made my path.
Describe your sound in 3 words?
Playful, syn(es)thetic, rippling
Tell us about your new label Littlehat Recordings.
I am interested in art, sounds, words, web3 and the encounter with people. The industrial side is a necessary evil, which unfortunately also has to be taken to heart in order to broadcast what I have created and reach my listeners. at the same time, it is important to me to stand on my own feet, to be my own boss, and to settle and conceive my own island. I am very happy to have found the biggest french indie distributor as a partner and thus support and possibly to cooperate as my own one-man label.
I am also interested in engaging more locally, even online. I’m starting now to distribute my work in Web3, connecting directly with collectors and supporters. I’m learning how to exist in this new to me space thanks to Nifty Music Academy in which we are taught how to handle these new markets. We act as a group of creators who support and directly learn from each other.
You have a new release out now called The Head of Knights. Can you tell us more about that?
“The Head of Knights” is about shifting one’s perspective of an actor – who’s caught up in the events – to that of a narrator viewing the action from a wider field of view and possibilities. Thanks to this repositioning, one can overcome a fear of experiencing discomfort that is expected outside of comfort zones, which paradoxically, even if known well might be more dangerous than the new.
A creative perspective is stimulating different ways of relating to any situation. The mind is placed to be in a playful relation to the scene, thanks to a healthy dose of detachment from mundane reality. It creates a space between thoughts, turning them into a temporary shapable substance. Thanks to using words of not only a complaining narration (affirming what is) but looking past it in order to see a possibility of transforming that scene.
I would like to encourage the listener (and myself in a less hopeful moment) to pose the question ‘Am I only an actor, or also a scriptwriter/director of this situation?’
We can stimulate our perception by using drugs, CBT proves that we can achieve similar but long lasting results by the way we narrate what we observe. That observation has a direct effect on taken actions, which break us away from the old patterns.
Which artists and styles have inspired and influenced you over the course of your career?
Syd Barrett, Jim Morrison, Cat Power, Rufus Wainwright, James Blake, Oneohtrix Point Never, Animal Collective, Hot Chip.
When all the music and partying is over how do you like to chill out?
I enjoy spending time with people who are decisive about forms of leisure. I like to release the need for deciding what I could do and I curiously visit preferences of others. Being engaged in a conversation with people and learning about their life paths and differences on how everyone is shaping their judgments is what keeps me in a state of wonder and appreciation.
Best stage you have ever played on?
The best stage is the stage I’m standing on at the moment.
What is fun and rewarding about what you do? And what’s not?
Getting direct feedback from people.
What is not so much: alone creating content for social media engagement, the amount of it that a musician in the genre as mine has to face in order to connect with their audience is quite overwhelming to me at the moment. I’m working on how to stay sober and navigate it better, working with someone to make it more fun. Its important to not get caught up in what’s not real, as getting a reward for work by collecting soulless engagement statistics.
Best advice you’ve ever been given?
Nobody will remember this moment in 100 years, do it because of how it makes you feel today.
Name one your strengths?
Perseverance
Idea of a perfect Sunday?
Waking up with no alarm. Last Sunday I realized I’ve left my phone in the studio, I enjoyed not having any point of reference other than my own senses for a couple of hours. I’m planning to have more of these Sundays, going from one activity to another in a spontaneous rhythm.
What would be a deal breaker on a first date?
Signs of escapist behaviors, such as regular consumption of weed or other drugs (whether prescribed or not) without being involved in any form of therapy.
If you could meet someone living or dead, who would it be and why?
It’s difficult to choose one person. Perhaps Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, because he wrote a favorite book of mine, The Little Prince, and he was a pilot. I’d like to become a pilot one day. Of a spaceship.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Everywhere for a half of a year and the other in a modern tree house, somewhere in nature (but close to a city). There I’d treat my friends (and people who’d become them) with sessions of magic and music.
How would you describe your fashion style?
I am such a sucker for comfort.
Other than that I like stripes and vivid colors.
Slightly unusual but not screaming for attention.
What do you think of Social Media?
It has to be approached with care because it can shatter the delicate fabric of the psyche if it’s dosed without limits. It’s very addictive and easy to replace natural human connections. It distances people as much as making them come together in the online space. I believe there has to be great attention on how to use it and how not overly compare oneself with those who have more of [fill the blank].
Where we can follow you?
Everywhere. And sometimes I’ll hide, so I can’t be followed.
What’s next for Vincent Littlehat?
Sprouting
Favorite…
Quote: “The knowledge I have about the world – whether within or without – comes into operation only when there is a demand for it. Otherwise I simply don’t know. Your natural state is one of not knowing. What I say you must not take literally. So much trouble has been created by people taking it all literally. You must test every word, every phrase, and see if it bears any relation to the way you are functioning. You must test it, but you are not in a position to accept it.” – UG Krishnamurti
Movie: The Labyrinth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Travel Destination: Bacalar (Mexico), Ko Phangan (Thailand), Mauritius, Tuscany, Polish countryside. And where the mushrooms take me.
Sports Team: I haven’t paid attention to any
Vincent Littlehat – The Head of Knights is out now via Littlehat Recordings
Blonde Hair Photo Credit: Giulia Bersani
