Sennheiser Sound

The band Söhne Mannheims was founded in the winter of 1995 from a handful of friends who were united in their love of music and their home town of Mannheim. Periods lasting months on end were then spent in cellar rooms and kitchen studios, in which the first songs such as “Meine Stadt” (My Town) and “Quadrate” (Squares) were developed. A headstrong mixture of R&B, soul, rap, hip hop and pop music with lyrics about personal experiences of everyday life in Mannheim from a religious and social viewpoint is the trademark of the band to this day. It is precisely these different styles and the specific lyrics that make it nearly impossible to classify them in a particular category or genre. The then 17 band members, including Xavier Naidoo (singer), Tino Oac (singer), Michael Herberger (keyboards and musical director), Florian Sitzmann (also keyboards), the guitarists Kosho and Andreas Bayless, the bassist Robbee Mariano, the drummers Ralf Gustke and Bernd Herrmann and DJ Billy Davis, as well as the other vocalists, worked meticulously for several months on their songs until they released their debut album “Zion” in 2000. At the same time, some members were working on their solo careers and it would be another three years before the now 14 members gathered together in the studio again to complete the follow-up album “Noiz”. This album was released in June 2004 and immediately reached number one in the German album charts. As a result of the completely sold-out arena tour the musicians collective attracted an enormous following in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
 
One year later the double live CD and the double DVD “Power of the Sound” were released, which impressively reflected the particular charisma of the band and its rich musical repertoire. In 2005 the tenth anniversary of the Söhne Mannheims was documented with the illustrated book “Mitten unter Euch…” (Among You…) in collaboration with the photographer Thommy Mardo. It is a very personal portrait of a band that, up until this point, was already regarded as among the most successful music acts in Germany. In 2006 the Söhne (sons) concentrated on their solo activities, and yet even in this period there was a close bond between the artists. An example of this connection is shown by the compilation “Söhne, Mond & Sterne” (Sons, Moon and Stars) in which each individual contributed a solo track. In January 2007 they set themselves new challenges and toured for the first time in clubs across Europe before they gave a guest performance in March with the SWR symphony orchestra  entitled “Zwischenräume – Zweiklang im Einklang” (Spaces – Two Sounds in Unison) . The next step on the route to success was not long in coming, as the broadcaster MTV invited the band on to the legendary series “MTV Unplugged”. Entitled “Söhne Mannheims vs. Xavier Naidoo – Wettsingen in Schwetzingen – MTV Unplugged” (released 19.09.08), the show not only marked their return to the public eye but was also the source of three significant events. The first of these was the release of their first single from this series “Das hat die Welt noch nicht gesehen” (The World Hasn’t Seen This Yet), with which they reached the number one spot in the singles chart for the first time. Their second decision surprised even the music broadcaster, because for the first time in the history of “MTV unplugged” two concerts were taped at the same time – the Söhne Mannheims and Xavier Naidoo as a solo artist. Linked to this was the third premiere, the removal of the strict separation of the Söhne Mannheims and the solo activities of Xavier Naidoo. The result of this is a double CD, which unites all of these extraordinary and top-class musicians for the first time on one sound recording.