Most fans of Johnny Depp know that he was a musician before he was an actor. We know he was in a band that played at The Viper Room in the 1990s. Despite the fanatic love of Depp, most of his fans, including Maui Zan, haven’t spent a lot of time with his music.
The video below was filmed at the Austin Music Awards in 1993. The band is P featuring lead vocalist/guitarist Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers, guitarist/bass player Johnny Depp, actor Sal Jenco on percussion, and songwriter Bill Carter on guitar/bass.
Depp reportedly dropped out of school when he was 15 to pursue a dream of being a rock star. In 1980, he joined the band The Kids. The band achieved a moderate amount of success but Depp eventually turned to acting on the advice of Nicholas Cage. Depp jammed with the band again in the 1990s as discovered from browsing YouTube.
Here is a clip of The Kids playing a memorial concert in Florida in 2007.
Between The Kids and P, Depp played with a variety of bands including Rock City Angels.
More recently, Depp has recorded with Babybird and Oasis in addition to the release of a solo album.
He also directed a video for Babybird which is posted on YouTube with a caviet: “Here’s the official, uncut version of Babybird’s Unloveable video, directed by Johnny Depp. This particular version was just a bit too intense for the folks over at Yahoos Standards and Practices department. However, we believe that this version gives the viewer the true vision intended by both the artist and director.
In Jun 2010, several British media outlets reported that Depp was forming his own record label called Unison Music. He reportedly had hired some talent scouts in London to, well, scout talent. However, according to the Unison Music website, the company was formed by Bruce Witkin and Ryan Dorn. Both Witkin and Dorn are friends with Depp but he is not mentioned as an owner on the company website.
On-stage with a guitar, on the big screen playing a fabulous character or on the television chatting about his life — it does not matter — Johnny Depp is loved and admired here on Maui and worldwide.
Johnny, you’ve made movies in Hawaii, it is time to come to Maui now and check out our musical talent.
Maui Zan 
Posted on April 17, 2011
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