When Johnny Depp
was 12 years old, his mom bought him his first $25 guitar. Johnny
stole a Mel Bay chord book, locked himself in his room, and learned how
to play. He often jokes that he was so engrossed in playing
guitar, he missed puberty. Soon he was playing in a series of
rock bands in South Florida: Flame, Zaphyre, Bitch, Bad Boys. His
ambition was to join a well-regarded band called The Kids, and in late
1980, he finally got his wish and became their lead guitarist. The Kids had quite a
bit of success in the Florida music scene, opening for such acts as
The Pretenders, The B-52s, Talking Heads and Iggy Pop. They
even opened for Chuck Berry once, while on the road in
Georgia. In December of 1983, The Kids went to LA in search of
fame and fortune, at one point changing their name to Six Gun
Method. But the competition was much fiercer than they imagined,
and the band members were struggling to survive. One day,
Johnny’s friend Nicolas Cage told him, “You should try
acting,” and helped him get an audition for A Nightmare On Elm Street. Johnny got the part… and the rest is history.
Even after getting several more film and TV roles, Johnny still considered himself primarily a musician and dreamed of becoming a rock and roll star. In 1986, after returning from The Philippines where he filmed a small role in Platoon, he got a gig playing rhythm guitar in the Rock City Angels, another band with Florida roots. But it only lasted about 8 months. He was approached to play the role of a baby-faced cop posing as a high school student in a new Fox TV series called 21 Jump Street. He initially turned it down, because he didn’t want to be locked into a TV series, and he didn’t want to move to Vancouver where the show was to be filmed. But after the actor who was chosen for the role of Officer Tom Hanson didn’t work out, Johnny was again approached to take the role, and this time he reluctantly accepted. That meant he would have to quit the Rock City Angels, just at a time when they were on the verge of a huge record deal. The Rock City Angels did get their deal. Meanwhile, Johnny became a star.
Years later, while Johnny was filming What’s Eating Gilbert Grape near Austin Texas, he and his childhood friend Sal Jenco began hanging out with area musicians Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and renowned songwriter/roots rocker Bill Carter. At first, they got together to cook, but eventually they began playing music together for fun, and P was born. When the Austin South By Southwest organizers invited the Butthole Surfers to play, Gibby asked them to instead book his other band. P made its debut appearance at SXSW on March 17, 1993. The band followed with occasional gigs at Johnny’s club The Viper Room, and a pair of shows in Vienna in 1997. A studio album was released in November of 1995, and there was even a single, Michael Stipe. In 2000, Johnny was still talking about the possibility of the band getting back together and doing some more music together. We’re still waiting! Meanwhile, Johnny has reunited with The Kids several times, most notably on January 28, 2007 for the Sheila Witkin Memorial Reunion Concert in Pompano Beach, FL.
Over the years, Johnny has participated on a number of official releases, by the likes of Shane MacGowan, Oasis, Iggy Pop and Vanessa Paradis. He contributes musically to the Chocolat and Once Upon A Time In Mexico soundtracks. He has also served as a producer, most recently on the Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys CD. Shane MacGowan has invited Johnny to play on his next solo album, and says that they had played together while filming The Libertine in 2004… but they forgot to record anything! In 2007, Johnny took on his biggest musical challenge yet by taking on the lead role in a film version of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Although he claims never to have sung a complete song before this (he has, in fact, sung snippets of songs in other films, as well as doing backup vocals for The Kids and P), and without taking any professional voice training, he pulled off the difficult singing without a hitch! And yes, Johnny's singing is now officially released on the Sweeney Todd motion picture soundtrack.
In a July 2006 interview Johnny did with two Japanese school children, he told them, "It's still my number one love, the guitar. I still play every day and I still love it as much as I did when I was 12 years old." Music has always been, and is still a big part of Johnny’s life, and may it always continue to be so!
Even after getting several more film and TV roles, Johnny still considered himself primarily a musician and dreamed of becoming a rock and roll star. In 1986, after returning from The Philippines where he filmed a small role in Platoon, he got a gig playing rhythm guitar in the Rock City Angels, another band with Florida roots. But it only lasted about 8 months. He was approached to play the role of a baby-faced cop posing as a high school student in a new Fox TV series called 21 Jump Street. He initially turned it down, because he didn’t want to be locked into a TV series, and he didn’t want to move to Vancouver where the show was to be filmed. But after the actor who was chosen for the role of Officer Tom Hanson didn’t work out, Johnny was again approached to take the role, and this time he reluctantly accepted. That meant he would have to quit the Rock City Angels, just at a time when they were on the verge of a huge record deal. The Rock City Angels did get their deal. Meanwhile, Johnny became a star.
Years later, while Johnny was filming What’s Eating Gilbert Grape near Austin Texas, he and his childhood friend Sal Jenco began hanging out with area musicians Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and renowned songwriter/roots rocker Bill Carter. At first, they got together to cook, but eventually they began playing music together for fun, and P was born. When the Austin South By Southwest organizers invited the Butthole Surfers to play, Gibby asked them to instead book his other band. P made its debut appearance at SXSW on March 17, 1993. The band followed with occasional gigs at Johnny’s club The Viper Room, and a pair of shows in Vienna in 1997. A studio album was released in November of 1995, and there was even a single, Michael Stipe. In 2000, Johnny was still talking about the possibility of the band getting back together and doing some more music together. We’re still waiting! Meanwhile, Johnny has reunited with The Kids several times, most notably on January 28, 2007 for the Sheila Witkin Memorial Reunion Concert in Pompano Beach, FL.
Over the years, Johnny has participated on a number of official releases, by the likes of Shane MacGowan, Oasis, Iggy Pop and Vanessa Paradis. He contributes musically to the Chocolat and Once Upon A Time In Mexico soundtracks. He has also served as a producer, most recently on the Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys CD. Shane MacGowan has invited Johnny to play on his next solo album, and says that they had played together while filming The Libertine in 2004… but they forgot to record anything! In 2007, Johnny took on his biggest musical challenge yet by taking on the lead role in a film version of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Although he claims never to have sung a complete song before this (he has, in fact, sung snippets of songs in other films, as well as doing backup vocals for The Kids and P), and without taking any professional voice training, he pulled off the difficult singing without a hitch! And yes, Johnny's singing is now officially released on the Sweeney Todd motion picture soundtrack.
In a July 2006 interview Johnny did with two Japanese school children, he told them, "It's still my number one love, the guitar. I still play every day and I still love it as much as I did when I was 12 years old." Music has always been, and is still a big part of Johnny’s life, and may it always continue to be so!
