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Scooter: Who is this German techno band?

August 7, 2017

Scooter has kicked up controvery with its performance in Crimea. While the band is known in the global techno scene, the name is new to others. A look at the music group making headlines.

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Techno Band Scooter
Image: Kontor Records

A German techno trio that got its start in Hamburg in 1993, Scooter is known for fast beats, non-political - and sometimes nonsensical - screaming lyrics. The band's high-energy shows featuring lasers and pyrotechnics. They have sold over 30 million records worldwide. While the band's members have changed over time, frontman H.P. Baxxter (center) has been there from the start. The band's other current members are Phil Speiser and Michael Simon.

In early August 2017, the band kicked up controversy when they arrived at a rock festival in Crimea, the peninsula on the Black Sea that Russia and Ukraine continue to contest. While H.P. Baxxter insists the band is focused on music, not politics, it isn't the first time he has waded into politically-related controversy. In 2011, a series of photographs of Baxxter that surfaced online forced the group's founder to speak out on the incidents and the group's label to issue an official statement on Scooter's relation to the right-wing music scene. 

Click through the images above to learn more about the band at the heart of this controversy.