The band Johnny Depp called the best songwriters since The Beatles: “Right up there”
Up until somewhere around the age of ten, I genuinely believed Johnny Depp was Australian. I was a child of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie craze and lapped up the eccentricities of Captain Jack Sparrow so wholeheartedly, I simply could not fathom that Depp was from America.
I guess this largely spoke to my infancy at the time, and a sort of idealistic viewing of films that now I’ve become a cynical adult, I wish to have back. But underneath that, somewhere credit is due to the mercurial ability of Depp, who has constantly sought to shapeshift in his acting career.
But underneath the ever-changing face of his roles stands someone who, for the past 20 years has largely remained the same. Harnessing the energy of blues rock icons from yesteryear, more often than not, you can find Depp wearing either a leather or denim jacket, with a cigarette in his mouth and an electric guitar within the grasp of his fingertips.
Coming up in the not-so-healthy rock scene of LA’s seedy nightclubs, particularly The Viper Room, Depp has tried his hand at living the life of a true rockstar. If anything, you could say that’s where his heart lies, for the smile he bears when sharing the stage with the likes of Jeff Beck is far wider than the one he hides on Hollywood film sets.
In fact, during his closely followed defamation trial in 2022, Depp said, “I ended up acting by accident,” adding, “I was a musician, and I moved out to LA with my band when I was 20 years old… There were a couple of things that happened where the band split up. I remember I was filling out a couple of job applications with a friend of mine.”
It’s here that his impeccable Australian accent starts to make a little bit more sense to me. While it’s worth noting that so much of the iconography of that pirate performance was down to what he says were mannerisms based on the legendary Keith Richards, maybe a subconscious appreciation for the world of Australian rock continues to feed the design of his character.
Because when Depp was asked about a band that stands out in his own memory, he was quick to head ‘Down Under’ for his answer. He said, “I’m a huge fan of—there’s a band that I adore out of Australia called Augie March, and it’s, it is for me, some of the best songwriting I’ve ever experienced and is right up there in the Lennon-McCartney range. The main songwriter, Glenn Richards, the singer, is, well, he and the band are incredibly talented. The song I would turn you on to would be, first, ‘One Crowded Hour’. Listen to that.”
I followed Depp’s advice and gave it a listen. Certainly a well-crafted song and the sort of slowly unveiling, brooding rock ballad I have come to expect from a Johnny Depp recommendation. While I can’t quite get on board with the same lofty praise he is willing to give, the thrill of diving into a newly recommended band will never wear off.
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