For over two decades, Frank Jensen and Tobias Müller have been quietly shaping the landscape of soulful electronic music from their base in Mainz, Germany. As SoulParlor, they’ve navigated the seismic shifts of the music industry, from the vinyl era to the digital age, while maintaining an unwavering commitment to genre-defying sounds that blend broken beat, jazz, soul, and forward-thinking electronic production.
Their legendary club night “You Move Nothing If You Don’t Move Yourself” became a cultural landmark in the early 2000s, bringing icons like IG Culture, Dego, Jazzanova, and Bugz In The Attic to unexpected places and fostering a community that still reverberates today. Now, with a stunning new album featuring collaborations with Colonel Red, Desney Bailey, Mavis Acquah, and other longtime friends, SoulParlor prove that longevity in electronic music isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about staying curious, maintaining relationships, and never losing sight of your roots.
We discuss their journey from MPC-driven productions to their current creative process, their thoughts on AI’s role in music, and why they’ve never been interested in being pigeonholed into a single genre.
1. You’ve been shaping Germany’s soulful electronic scene for decades now. Can you take us back to the beginning? What drew you both to this intersection of soul, jazz, and electronic music in the first place?
Frank: Fortunately, we had the opportunity very early on to organise our own club nights at the Red Cat Club in Mainz. The owners saw our musical concept as a slightly different approach that didn’t really exist at the time in the early 2000s. After a few years, the first guests were invited, and to everyone’s delight, it worked. Our club series ‘You Move Nothing If You Don’t Move Yourself’ quickly became a well-known event throughout Germany and also attracted international attention. It then completely escalated – suddenly we had all our musical heroes as guests, and they had a great time too! IG Culture, Dego, Phil Asher, Jazzanova, Dixon, Lefto, Bugz In The Attic, King Britt, Domu, Benij B – and countless others were regular guests at our night! It was a really awesome time!
2. Mainz isn’t necessarily the first city that comes to mind when people think of electronic music hubs. How did the local scene there influence your sound, and what was it like building a community around this music in your area?
Frank: At that time, around the turn of the millennium, we simply had the advantage that Mainz was a very open-minded city when it came to music, and people were slowly moving from underground parties to the first clubs. Everyone was hyped and eager for new danceable sounds. I can’t say whether it really influenced our productions, but we were just as fired up and found the combination of our own club night and the right soundtrack super exciting. Even decades later, we heard from people in Mainz that they had actually grown up with our club night in Mainz and that it had had a significant influence on them – that makes you a little happy.
3. Curating parties and bringing international talent to Germany was a big part of your early work. How did those experiences as promoters and curators shape your approach to making music?
Frank: Of course, we mostly had guests who we found extremely interesting ourselves, whether they were producers or DJs. The fact that these guests were also absolutely appreciated in Mainz was unique. And a very important part of it was not just hanging out in the club, but the hours of conversation about music with each guest. And the fact that this was mutual motivated us.
4. Your sound has evolved considerably over the years – from broken beat to UK funky influences and beyond. What have been the key turning points or revelations that pushed your production in new directions?
Frank: We’ve never really been able to be pigeonholed into one genre. In my opinion, that’s what makes SoulParlor so interesting.
We just do whatever we feel like doing, and that changes all the time. Sure, our roots are in soul/hip hop/funk/disco, but we’ve always been explorers, searching for whatever gives us a kick.
5. You’ve weathered significant changes in the music industry, including what you’ve called the “post-vinyl” era. How did that transition period affect your creative process and the way you approach releases now?
Frank: Of course, there was a black hole that we fell into at first. And to be honest, it took a while to get out of it. We had to adapt, and at that point we were already older gentlemen. We never stopped making music, but we had to find our feet again first. This didn’t affect our workflow in the studio. After scanning the new digital world, I quickly found a new home for SoulParlor.
6. The new album features broken rhythms and forward-thinking beats alongside timeless soul. How do you balance innovation with that classic soul foundation that’s always been central to your work?
Frank: This has a lot to do with our roots, which we have never lost. As mentioned, SoulParlor is more or less genre-free. This gives us all the freedom we could wish for. On albums, we like to show a little more of ourselves, and it doesn’t always have to be a dance track.
7. This album brings together an impressive roster of vocalists: Colonel Red, Desney Bailey, Mavis Acquah, and others. What’s your process for finding and working with featured artists?
Frank: We owe this to our early beginnings. Many of the features are long-standing friends and companions. Whether we met somewhere in a club around the world and had a great conversation or through unexpected collaborations. They are simply people who think alike and share the same values – and then it just clicks. And fortunately, these relationships have lasted for decades and continue to this day.
8. Can you walk us through your studio setup and production philosophy? Has your approach to making tracks changed significantly over the years, or have you maintained certain core principles?
Tobias: We use Cubase since the Atari-days and Cubase is the DAW we use for the main production. We also had an MPC-Era, but that’s history. Frank also uses Ableton for creating basic ideas. We only use PlugIns.
I can understand hardware-afficionados, but I don’t see a real benefit anymore.
As a Keyboard I use a Arturias Keylab MKII 88, which is very nicely crafted and very flexible as a controller for PlugIns.
Frank: I come from very humble beginnings. There was only one MPC and that was it – make something of it. Nowadays, there are so many possibilities, but I find it much more exciting to limit myself again. I use Ableton, a carefully selected set of plug-ins and a good MIDI keyboard – that’s it!
9. AI is increasingly being used in music production—from generating melodies to mastering tracks. As producers who’ve honed your craft over decades, what’s your perspective on AI’s role in electronic music? Does it excite or concern you?
Tobias: AI can help you to create and deliver fast. This might be interesting for people who work with deadlines. We don’t use AI. In 99% I don’t even use a preset from any given synth or PlugIn. For me the creative process is something that should be experienced in a holistic way. If you try a new chord progression and possible melodies manually for a while you finally own it. You memorize it in your mind and your body-memory and this is not possible if you use something like AI. In other words you can not prepare for a marathon by driving 42 km by bus every day.
Frank: You shouldn’t let AI influence you too much. Sure, it can take some of the work off your hands, but there will come a point where all artists will sound more or less the same. Even though AI is constantly learning, it will inevitably pick up on certain trends – and then it will happen – you will become replaceable.
10. What’s on the horizon for SoulParlor after this album drops? Are you planning to take these new tracks on the road with live performances, and if so, how do you envision translating this album’s sound to a live setting?
Frank: That’s not currently planned. We once had a SoulParlor band that actually rehearsed. But unfortunately, we never got any further than that. Maybe we’ll think about it again. But it’s also an incredible amount of work.