Johnny Depp's teenage freedom

Jan 10, 2008, 13:30 GMT

Johnny Depp EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Johnny Depp had his first taste of freedom when he joined a band as a teenager.

The Hollywood actor - who stars in new musical film 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - says jamming with his childhood pals helped him find his future calling as a performer.

Depp - who was the band's guitarist - said: "When I was about 13, I got together with some other kids in the neighbourhood. This one guy had a bass, we knew a guy who had a PA system and we made our own lights. It was really ramshackle and great. We played at people's backyard parties.

"You're 13 years old and you're playing rock 'n' roll - loudly and poorly. But somebody's letting you do it in their backyard. And it was absolute perfection. It was freedom. Right off the bat, there was no question: I had found my future."

Depp also revealed he learnt to play the guitar after stealing a chord book and teaching himself.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: "My mother bought me a guitar when I was 12 and then, this is horrible, the first thing I did was steal a chord book. I went to this store, stuffed it down my pants and walked out. It had pictures - that's why I needed it so badly, because it was immediate gratification. If I could match those photographs, then I was golden. I conquered it in days. I locked the bedroom door, didn't leave, and taught myself how to play chords."

(C) BANG Media International