oct 26, 2015 - CLASSIC ROCK THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Johnny Depp INTERVIEW

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THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
THE ORIGINAL HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES WERE THE ULTIMATE 70S HELLRAISERS. FOUR DECADES ON, VAMPIRE-IN-CHIEF ALICE COOPER HAS RESURRECTED THEM WITH HELP FROM JOE PERRY AND JOHNNY DEPP. AS WE JOIN THEM IN LA, THE TRIO REVEAL HOW THIS ALL-STAR SUPERGROUP ROSE FROM THE GRAVE.

Alice Cooper picks up a glass of beer, walks to the mic, then pauses momentarily while the packed audience takes his cue and attempt a respectful hush. "Alcohol and drugs killed a whole lot of Hollywood Vampires," he warns, before making a toast. "This is dedicated to our Dead Drunk Friends." Instantly the quiet is shattered by the raucous opening to the song that took its name from those dearly departed dipsomaniacs that inspired it.

It's the second of two sold-out nights at The Roxy for the Hollywood Vampires, an all-star super group centered on the unlikely trio of Alice Cooper, Aerosmith's Joe Perry, and Rock City Angels' Johnny Depp, better known as movie star Johnny Depp. The previous night's show marked the live debut for the band that have just released their self-titled debut album. With only two original songs, the bulk of the record is devoted to an illustrious collection of cover versions that includes Whole Lotta Love, My Generation, Jeepster and Cold Turkey. The only common denominator among the eclectic selection is that at least one of the original artists who performed them is dead. Indeed death is a central theme for the Hollywood Vampires, who took their name from a legendary group of drinkers that in the 70s frequented the Rainbow Bar & Grill, the club that is within throwing-up distance of The Roxy, on LA's fabled Sunset Strip.

The fluid line-up of the original Hollywood Vampires included Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Bernie Taupin, while Alice Cooper was elected honorary president. For some of the original Vampires, the drinking that secured their membership ultimately proved fatal, while others managed to pull themselves back from the brink. Cooper was one of those who survived, and now, with the christening of his new venture inevitably conjuring up associations with the past, he recounts the origins of the group's name.

"When you went up to The Rainbow, they put all the rock stars and actors up in this loft, and they gave us the name The Hollywood Vampires because they said: 'We never see you during the day, and all you do is drink.' So it's more like we're drinking the blood of the vine, not the blood of the vein. They put a plaque up there, 'Roost of The Hollywood Vampires'."

The new incarnation of the Hollywood Vampires has a very different relationship with alcohol, one symbolised poignantly when, back at The Roxy, Alice turns his glass upside down and the contents remain in it, revealing it to be a prop of the stage variety, and not the prop that real alcohol once provided him with. Cooper's long battle with alcohol is a battle shared by his bandmates in the Hollywood Vampires; both Perry and Depp's struggles with drink have been well chronicled.

"Well, we're all still alcoholics," Perry admits. "I've never considered myself not. I just don't drink today. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I could just as easily pick up a drink tomorrow, y'know. It's like, the way I look at it, I have a choice every day: I can either give in to it, or not. That doesn't go away. It's always there."

Looking at the present-day group as they tear up The Roxy, making a mockery of their years and demons, these Vampires couldn't be more Alice. As if they nucleus of Perry and Depp on guitars and Cooper on vocals didn't possess enough star power, the trio are joined on stage by Matt Sorum on drums and his rhythm buddy Duff McKagan on bass, plus Tommy Henriksen on guitar and Bruce Witkin on keyboards. And while the tiny Toxy was barely able to accommodate the seven-piece line-up, it would have required the vast stage of the nearby Hollywood Bowl to fit all the musicians who make guest appearances on the album. The impressive list includes Sir Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Slash, Robby Krieger, Brian Johnson, Perry Farrell and Zak Starkey. One other artist contributes to the record, and while not a musician his association with vampires is renowned. In what was his last recording before his death, actor Sir Christopher Lee recites the album's opening track, The Last Vampire. The record's pedigree is enhanced by its cover artwork, created by clothing designer John Varvatos, and the eloquent liner notes by Bernie Taupin.

The record and The Roxy shows are the outcome of an idea that was spawned more than four years ago. "I was doing Dark Shadows [2012's horror comedy] with Johnny in London," Cooper recalls. "One night we're going to play the 100 Club, down on Oxford Street. I said: 'Johnny, when do you finishing shooting tonight?' He said: 'Around six.' And I said: 'Well, either take you make-up off, or leave it on.' The ironic thing is that the movie Dark Shadows was about vampires. I said: 'Come down and play with us.' I knew he was a good guitar player; I mean, I'd seen him play. He came down, and we did a couple Alice songs, and then somebody would yell out Brown Sugar, and we'd do that, and somebody would yell out, Back In The U.S.S.R., or something like that. Everything they yelled out, Johnny knew every song.

Hardly surprising, really, considering that prior to his acting career Depp had moved to Los Angeles with the express intention of scoring a record deal for his band The Kids, and he'd later spend time with Sunset Strip regulars Rock City Angels. "I picked up the guitar when I was twelve years old," Depp says. "I conned my mom into buying me an electric guitar for twenty-five dollars. And the first time I picked it up it was over with."

"In the downtime of the filming, we started talking about the Hollywood Vampires," says Alice. "And Johnny was kind of fascinated by the fact that these guys were all in one place at one time."

"So many stick out," Depp says, laughing, about the tales that Alice would tell of his time in the original Vampires. "They were always waiting for Keith Moon to arrive. And Keith Moon arrived as the Queen of England, waving in the same manner, full-on garb. And the next night he'd be fucking d'Artagnan or something, you know? So brilliant."

"It just came up," Alice continues: "Why don't we do a tribute to them? I've never done a covers album. It started out being an Alice Cooper cover. And then I realised that it really wasn't any more, now it was a band called the Hollywood Vampires."

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