Rick Jordan of Scooter recalls his Depeche Moment

In our ongoing series assessing the impact of Depeche Mode through personal narratives, the songwriter behind one of Germany’s most successful and polarizing pop groups enjoys the sonic violence. 

My interest in Depeche Mode developed over time. When I was younger and growing up with songs like “Just Can’t Get Enough”, I actually wasn’t really that into them. Back in those days I was listening to other music. I first discovered my passion for their music when I was a bit older and started going to clubs where they would play new wave and stuff like that. Suddenly, Depeche Mode’s music took on another dimension for me. I remember that the song “Enjoy the Silence” left a major impression on me. The sonic violence of this song and the killer production really blew me away, particularly the way that fading in and out was used with the refrain and the mood that this created. Dave Gahan’s vocals are amazing in that song. The sound that they were able to create by using filters and envelope curves on samples was really groundbreaking at that time. We tried to imitate some of those sounds to use them in the Scooter context but never managed to!

Depeche Mode have certainly influenced me as a producer and I think that their sonic innovations have subtly worked their way into our sound. We even once covered “Stripped”, where we did a version with a proper orchestra arrangement. I would say that we were more drawn to the transcendent and ceremonial elements of their sound, rather than the more morbid elements. There are, of course, many differences between our approach and that of Depeche Mode. Whereas their sound features Martin Gore’s guitar we are more heavily focused on singing. We aren’t really classic songwriters in that sense, but rather producers or directors, people who make something big out of something small. Maybe the biggest similarity between Scooter’s sound and Depeche Mode lies in our attitude, this drive to ensure that all the sonic elements come together and work equally well in a stadium as well as on recordings.~

Read more Depeche Moments here. 

Published July 11, 2013. Words by rickjordan.