HP Baxxter turns 60
“I’ve found a good balance for my life”
HP Baxxter will soon be going on an anniversary tour with Scooter.
© Philipp Nürnberger
HP Baxxter celebrates its 60th birthday on March 16th. In the interview he talks about his big anniversary and reveals how he will celebrate.
Scooter frontman HP Baxxter turns 60 on March 16th. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, he talks about his big birthday, which he actually didn’t want to celebrate, and tells how he found “a good balance” in his life. He also reveals what will happen to Scooter in the future.
How are you celebrating your 60th birthday?
HP Baxxter: I didn’t want to celebrate at first because I like to put aside big birthdays. But my dear relatives invited themselves and then suddenly there were eight people (laughs). Now, like every year, I will invite friends and then there will be around 50 people at my house.
How do you feel about the number 60?
HP Baxxter: It’s a bit of a shock situation. I mean, you see it coming and it’s not really a surprise, but as it gets closer you can’t ignore it. You start to ponder and topics like finiteness come up. But I hope that once I get it over with, it won’t matter and we’ll just move on. I can’t change it anyway. The beautiful and only fair thing in the world is that, whether rich or poor, stupid or smart, everyone feels the same way and I’m not alone (laughs).
The music business can be stressful. How did it affect you?
HP Baxxter: I don’t think too much about making music itself, I’m more concerned about the hectoliters of alcohol and the sacks of tobacco that you’ve already gone through (laughs). Then I think: “Oh God, I hope you survive all this.” But, for example, I only smoke when I go out to parties, which isn’t every day, that means not during the week. In the last few years I have found a really good balance in my life and I hope that it will continue for a while.
There are also big things coming up professionally: The new Scooter album “Open your mind and your trousers” will be released on March 22nd and the announced tour “Thirty, Rough and Dirty” will celebrate your band’s anniversary. What’s next for Scooter?
HP Baxxter: I think it’s great that we’ve done a lot in England in the last few years. Now it’s our turn to organize the first real tour in the fall. And the festivals are getting bigger and bigger, there are still a few that we have never played at. The live sector is definitely still incredibly important.
Have you ever had doubts about whether Scooter will continue?
HP Baxxter: No, I’ve actually never thought about quitting. Of course there have always been ups and downs over the years. The creativity may not have been there as much as one would have liked. Or the popular sound in the clubs was far away from our scooter sound. But especially in the live area, things almost always went uphill. In the 90s we played in discos, today we only play in the really big halls and at huge festivals. I think you just have to keep going, don’t give up and then the right idea will always come along at the right time.