Meet The Offline: Escaping Into Cinematic Soundscapes

Hamburg-based multi-instrumentalist and producer The Offline (aka Felix Müller) has carved a unique lane where Anatolian psych, West Coast surf, and cinematic library music collide. His new single “Boulevard National” (out August 21st via DeepMatter Records) revisits Marseille — the city that inspired his acclaimed Les Cigales EP — blending multicultural pulse with sun-drenched nostalgia.

The track also announces his forthcoming sophomore album La grande évasion (due November 28th), a widescreen journey that channels the spirit of François de Roubaix, Morricone, and Magnum photography into a transportive, genre-blurring escape.

We caught up with The Offline to talk Marseille, cinematic influences, and why landscapes are just as important to his music as melody.

Your new single “Boulevard National” takes inspiration from Marseille and fuses Anatolian psych with West Coast surf. How did you arrive at this combination, and what brought you back to Marseille as a creative muse?

The connection really came through digging in record shops. I stumbled across a Barış Manço record I’d always wanted, and when I listened back, I thought the style would work well in The Offline context. Around the same time, I was remembering my stay in Marseille with Peter Haueis — we lived right on Boulevard National, and that street’s multicultural energy had a huge influence on me.

The video pays homage to Nouvelle Vague cinema and Magnum photography. What role does visual storytelling play in your music?

It’s central. The Offline actually began as a visual project — me taking analogue photos on the French Atlantic coast and then trying to capture their feeling in sound. My heroes are film composers like François de Roubaix and Morricone, so there’s always a visual scene in my head when I write. With Magnum photographers, I love how every image tells its own story, which is something I try to reflect in my compositions.

You describe La grande évasion as “an escape into music.” What kind of journey do you hope listeners take when they hear the album?

I hope they immerse themselves fully, like a guided trip. The tracklist is built to feel like a voyage — departure, exploration, the unknown, and finally, return. It’s about capturing the different stages of travel, both physically and mentally.

Your work often ties closely to place — Marseille, France’s Atlantic coast, Hamburg. How do landscapes and environments shape the sounds you create?

They’re everything. Winters in Hamburg are wet and dark, so I often create music as a way to mentally travel somewhere else. Even when I’m not physically in a place, its atmosphere influences the textures and moods I want to capture.

Your sound is rooted in the cinematic and library traditions of the 60s and 70s. Where do you see The Offline fitting in today’s music world?

There are overlaps with many scenes — hip-hop sampling, lo-fi beats, psych, funk, surf, jazz. I’d love to sound exactly like my 60s and 70s heroes, but realistically, I work with the tools and skills I have today. In a way, that tension between nostalgia and the present helps push my sound forward.