German producer and singer-songwriter Felix Raphael is breaking new ground with his forthcoming album ‘DO YOU’, a deeply personal 16-track exploration of mental health that blends melodic house with indie folk sensibilities. Signed to [PIAS] Électronique, the album marks a significant evolution for the artist—one that saw him teaching himself the flugelhorn to create its signature sound and deliberately choosing human vulnerability over digital perfection. Between his music career and social work studies, Raphael has crafted what he calls “social music work for the soul and the heart”—a cohesive four-phase narrative that asks listeners to check in with themselves and protect their joy. In this conversation, he opens up about touring lows, creative transformation, the dangers of AI-generated content, and why being gentle with yourself through cycles of change might be the most important message of all.
1. Your new album “DO YOU” tackles mental health head-on, both as a universal issue and from your personal experiences. What was the catalyst for creating such a deeply personal and vulnerable body of work?
The catalyst was both, from the outside world where I think mental issues are getting more and more of a big issue, and for me personally crystallised by touring lows, ongoing uncertainties and insecurities with doing what I do. The personality of the album evolved and kinda took shape throughout the album writing process. Not gonna lie it was not meant to be like that from the beginning. But that’s how things go, right? Especially for me, starting with something, ending up somewhere else. Or in this case with a different touch and meaning for myself. The album frames that reflection of problematic things with hope, using the title as both a question and an encouragement — “Do you” and “Do you!” — to check in, kinda evaluate, try to act on concerns over and over again, and protect joy, protect you and what you like.
2. How do you balance being a successful international musician while also studying social work, and how do both roles inform your perspective on mental health?
It definitely helped me reflect the album’s topics better/in a different way I feel. As an artist you are kind of a social worker but maybe for a different receptor. A different channel. Social music work for the soul and the heart. Things can be said and written and sung differently than in a normal therapy relation. I mean we all had at least this one song or artist that was so influential for us on a level that outweighs “music” in itself. Like the song you danced the night away with your first love. That song that you always listened to all the time when having your yearly vacation with your besties or your papa’s favorite song that was played at his funeral. Music and the memories we collect with it or the memories that music reminds us of, are like social work. They move us, they make us feel and they help us through things.
3. Getting your album signed to [PIAS] Électronique is a significant milestone. Can you walk us through how that partnership came about?
I think it was basically “just” a good match first. They were searching for artists who blend the electronic and indie scene music-wise and were reaching out to artists that do so. I was searching for a label to be with for longer than just a single or an EP — one that has experience in sharing quality music in the more “concert scene”. It turned out to be a great partnership and working on the album with them and my manager is fun, as I really wished to be working on this project. Because it comes from the <3.
4. You’re known in the electronic music scene, but your new album “DO YOU” blends melodic and organic house with indie folk elements. How did you arrive at this sonic palette, and what inspired you to expand beyond your established sound?
I wanted to kind of go more back to my roots and bring more of a singer-songwriter/indie feel to this album. Not losing its danceability, which is a great combination I think. Touchable music for the heart and the feet. All in all the palette is deliberately limited — guitar, piano, voice, strings, brass over patient electronic foundations — so melodic/organic house danceability can breathe alongside indie folk textures without losing cohesion.
5. You play guitar, piano, synths, and notably taught yourself the flugelhorn specifically for this album. What drew you to the flugelhorn as part of the album’s signature sound, and how did learning a completely new instrument during the creative process influence the music?
I needed a cohesive sound that is the “center” of the album, as I was missing that due to a very diverse-sounding album. The first instrument I learned as a kid was the saxophone, so I was already drawn to brass instruments. So I did some research on what else is out there — maybe something that I hadn’t heard before. There it was: the flugelhorn, with its beautiful, warm and mid-balanced driven sound. So I decided to buy it, “learn it” (don’t get me wrong, it’s very difficult and I am far from being very good — the recordings took quite a while to get the sound that I wanted. Practicing a lot now to bring it to life on stage). So yeah, the flugelhorn became the warm, mid-focused “center” that travels across chapters, symbolizing balance — fewer harsh highs and lows, more grounded tone — and giving hopeful color without bombast. Learning it during the process nudged production toward musicality over perfection, where small imperfections serve the message of humanity and presence.
6. Let’s dive into your first single “Creation (no matter how far I go)”. You describe it as a tribute to the pure joy of creating art wherever we are on our journey. Can you walk us through the writing and production process of this track?
Creation is a return to quiet joy — a place to come home to after long roads — so the writing starts more intimate, then lifts into a beat-driven release that carries the album’s DNA of organic textures and grooves, starting off recording the sound of falling sand (as I think it kind of captures the song visually and its meaning). The main elements are, as they quite often are, heartfelt piano and brass/strings; on the other hand, modern synths and driving, very dancey drums. Synthetically, one of the album’s main elements is a gated lead made from a pretty simple Moog Sub 37 patch fed into a gate trigger, which gives it an interesting rhythmic vibe. “Creation” opens the door to a heavy topic with a hopeful tone, signaling that the arc bends toward light even as it acknowledges earlier weight.
7. “DO YOU” is a substantial 16-track album with very intentional track titles like “Therapy”, “Medication”, “Compass” and “Resilience”. How did you approach structuring this emotional journey? Was the album written as a cohesive narrative, or did individual songs come together to form this larger story?
The record was designed as a cohesive narrative in four phases — Anxiety/Struggle, Opposite Emotions, Bliss, In-Phase/Balance — with second-person lyrics and seamless transitions that echo phrases across tracks like Doubts, Medication, Therapy, Compass, and Resilience. BUT it developed over time and process. Some things started to make “more” sense over time and in relation and combination with other songs/themes or lyrics. It felt really different at the end than in my imagination in the beginning. I think that happening translates really well into life itself — that things can and will change over time and might be different than what we planned. But that’s not a bad thing 🙂
8. As an artist working across electronic and organic elements, what’s your perspective on AI’s s role in music production? Have you experimented with AI tools in your creative process, and how do you balance technological innovation with the deeply human, vulnerable themes you explore in your
music?
I chose human-made process over AI in the creative work for this album — so that vulnerability, texture, and performance remain the point, not the prompt.
Technology is welcome when it serves intention, but the balance here favors human touch, second-person storytelling, and organic sound objects that are heard and seen in the visuals. In general I’m fucked up seeing all that AI-generated bullshit, especially on social media platforms that (and that’s the even worse part) people seem to interact with. It has two huge disadvantages: it tricks people and it floods the space for people making real value, making it so hard to be visible in a landscape of content.
9. What advice would you give to electronic music producers who want to explore outside traditional dance music formats?
Limit the palette, reuse spaces, and prioritize performance over perfection so expansions beyond club formats still feel coherent and alive. In electronic music productions, songs sometimes feel (are meant to be) a little bit stiff, which prevents an organic and live feel. So involve your instruments. Don’t be shy! The process is fun! Write in second person to turn themes into characters, design transitions as story beats, and let recurring textures and motifs stitch chapters into one arc. For live artists: Practise stage presence, crowd interaction and sculpt moments in your live performance that people won’t forget.
10. Looking ahead, how do you see your role evolving as both a musician and mental health advocate? What are your plans following the album release, and what message do you hope listeners take away from “DO YOU” — both those within the music industry and beyond it?
The role continues to evolve on stage — phase by phase — beginning close and opening wide with guitar, piano, voice, drum pad, and growing brass presence in shows built for interaction and presence. The message for listeners inside and outside the industry is simple: compare less, act on care, protect taste and joy, and allow cycles to move toward steadier ground — do you, both the question and the call. And most important: be gentle with yourself and change! I am falling back into bad habits a lot working on my mental health reflections and practices. But I am working on it — that’s the important thing, I think.
Thanks for having me and I really hope your ears and especially your heart will resonate with my album.