Of course, the band’s route to success was not quite as simple as frontman H.P. Baxxter describes. Scooter have indeed worked hard on their career and – we should not forget – they have now been in the business for over ten years. The former techno trio, who fought their way through the discotheques with “Hyper Hyper”, has developed into a serious band that now fills arenas with 80,000 people, has sold over ten million records and whose list of gold and platinum discs just seems to be endless.,Did anyone expect this back in 1994 when the band was formed in its original line-up? H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan, Ferris Bueller and, not least, manager and label boss Jens Thele started small: The trio’s debut “Hyper Hyper” went straight into the charts – and was immediately passed off as a one-hit wonder. However, the critics and journalists spoke far too soon. The follow-up hits like “Move Your Ass”, “Friends”, “Endless Summer”and “Back In The UK” were all just as successful. Anyone who believed that Scooter just wanted ride on the wave of their first hit were very wrong. Fun was and is the driving force behind the trio, by far more than the pressure to succeed and live up to expectations.,This explains the phenomenon of Scooter seeming to re-invent themselves for almost every single. Constantly combining styles that others would strictly separate, H.P., Rick and Ferris employ their unbelievable creativity with a healthy portion of humour and irony. The result is electronic ballads, eighties-style electro tracks, melancholic songs like “No Fate” or “She’s The Sun” and the legendary techno rock monster “Fire” (1997), which still sends H.P.’s “Flying V” guitar up in flames each night on stage. New member Axel Coon also felt this when he replaced Ferris Bueller in 1997, as did his successor Jay Frog, who is still a permanent member of the trio today.,All band members have their own special roles: H.P. still writes all of the lyrics while Rick and Jay are busy with the playbacks in the studio. To keep Scooter’s hand in club scene, Jay has taken over the role of DJ and also mixes a set for the Kontor Radio Show every other week. Jens Thele, the man behind the scenes, is responsible for anything to do with organisation and Logistics. He is also the one to ensure the band gets back on track after any disputes.,If it wasn’t for this work distribution, Scooter would very probably not be where they are today. Twenty-eight singles and thirteen albums clearly show that Scooter are a lot more than just a project. All critics and doubters will have had to admit that by now too.,Scooter’s new single “Shake That!” sees the band take a brave step by placing H.P.’s shouts over pumping disco house music. This courage has also already been rewarded: “Shake That!” entered the charts at number eight – incidentally making it their seventh Top Ten entry in succession!,Scooter are now about to bring out their fourteenth album. And “Mind The Gap” has many new features to offer: The album will be sold in three different price categories for the first time. In addition to the basic version, which just consists of the simple disc (EUR 9.99), there is also a regular version (EUR 14.99) with a booklet, bonus tracks, video, a making of, photos and interview, as well as a deluxe edition (EUR18.99). The latter contains all the features of the regular version plus a bonus CD with eleven live tracks from the “We Like It Loud Tour 2004”.
