Scooter frontman HP Baxxter talks in an interview about the new album and the anniversary tour, which celebrates 30 years of the band’s history.
HP Baxxter (60), Jay Frog (47) and Marc Blou (24) will release the new Scooter album “Open your mind and your trousers” on March 22nd. From the end of March, the trio will also be going on a big “Thirty, Rough and Dirty” anniversary tour, on which they will celebrate 30 years in Stuttgart (March 28th), Hamburg (March 30th), Berlin (April 9th) and Munich (April 11th). Scooters will celebrate. The EDM band has been with a new constellation since last year, Jay Frog returned to the group, Marc Blou is new.
In an interview with the news agency spot on news, HP Baxxter reveals to what extent the band has changed as a result, how he looks back on his musical beginnings, how he prepares for a Scooter concert and what fans can expect from the anniversary tour.
The new album is called “Open your mind and your trousers”. What’s behind the unusual title?
HP Baxxter: I always like to collect ideas for lines of text and write them down on my cell phone when I’m on the go. Sometimes you just think of nonsense (laughs). I had “Open your mind” in my head that I wanted to do something with. “Open your mind and your trousers” was like an inspiration. The line for the song “Rave and Shout” then became the album title. I thought it sounded crazy, funny and a bit provocative – a perfect name for a Scooter record.
The album has the title “Berliner Luft”. Is it a homage to the capital?
HP Baxxter: Absolutely. The idea came about when I had a real weekend in Berlin with a few people and we went through the clubs. I always think that’s great. Somehow I came up with the line “Luft Luft Luft,” which goes well with a bass drum.
Speaking of club nights. People also like to celebrate backstage at scooter concerts?
HP Baxxter: When you’re on tour, it’s obviously difficult if you have a lot of shows in a row that last just under two hours, to hang out somewhere until five in the morning. It’s usually limited to the backstage room, where we do a warm-up and hang out together for a bit after the show. However, if we have an off day without concerts, of course we go out too. This is still great fun. It’s also easier at the festivals in the summer, where the performance is usually only an hour, so there’s a little more time to party.
The constellations in the band have changed again and again over the years. Has the mood changed as a result?
HP Baxxter: No, the vibe, this spirit, has always remained with Scooter. And that also includes this party factor. It’s in the nature of things that before we go on stage we warm up a bit with the appropriate sound. I usually listen to the latest DJ sets that I like at full volume, then I’m really in the mood and then I go out and get on stage.
The great scooter success began in 1994 with “Hyper Hyper”. In the documentary “Fck 2020 – Two and a Half Years with Scooter” you explained that there was no threat of soaring because the band always faced headwinds. How do you view critics today?
HP Baxxter: When there’s been a rip, it’s never really unbalanced me (laughs). If you notice that someone has thought about it or was perhaps even on the show and then writes a few pointed comments, I find it amusing and can live with it. But of course I’m happy that critical voices have become rarer and yet so many think it’s good or sometimes write positively.
When you were starting out musically, you even made music with your sister…
HP Baxxter: That was actually a long time ago and it was only a short phase. At the time I thought it was somehow quite fitting and cool with our band Celebrate the Nun. There were also a few examples in the new wave area like the Thompson Twins. But in the end it wasn’t my sister’s thing, she wanted to do something else.
It is also mentioned in the documentary that former bandmates had to struggle with the fact that they were viewed as scooters alone. What about Jay Frog and Marc Blou today?
HP Baxxter: In the past there was sometimes stress, that’s true, but I couldn’t always influence that. People walk up to you and have this image. I don’t think it’s a problem with the current line-up. In the studio we really work together as a team. Marc is still a youngster, he hasn’t been in the business that long, but he is very talented and quick on the computer. Jay, who was there in previous years, is also focused on the technology and the keyboards. As far as the live sector is concerned, they do the show, but they are less interested in the star life and don’t want to live it out that way.
What can fans expect on the “Thirty, Rough and Dirty” anniversary tour?
HP Baxxter: As always, we put a lot of effort and thought into our show, from the visuals, the LED screens to the dancers and the set list. In some cases we have tweaked songs that have been around for a long time, i.e. modernized them a bit, without losing their character. For example, we have “How Much Is the Fish?” or “Call Me Mañana” reworked in the studio. With the large selection of songs, we also tried to include a few things like “We Are the Greatest” that we haven’t played in a long time. So now it has become a well-rounded affair.
Scooter has some classics in his repertoire. Are there any songs that you would no longer play?
HP Baxxter: I wouldn’t say no more. With something like “How Much Is the Fish?” from 98, which is in every set of ours, I thought, as I said, that we had to change a few things because otherwise it would sound a bit dusty and old school after such a long time. The modern songs we make today just have more bang and are even more dynamic. We’ve now adjusted that and it’s more fun to play the old songs again.
There are many die-hard scooter fans. Have any more been added over the years? How has your audience changed?
HP Baxxter: I have the feeling that we have a lot of young fans, especially when I think about England. There is also a different style of going out there than in Germany. People get married in their early 20s and then they’re out, they don’t go out or go to raves anymore. In this respect, the audience there is between 18 and 23. In Germany and other countries it is very mixed, especially on our tours. You have everything from 12 to 70 and up (laughs).