Depp Leppard? Nah

Among rock bands, there’s none easier to spell than P (except maybe X).

And there may be none easier to sell : What better bait can you have than heartthrob actor Johnny Depp?

Unless you’re talking Keanu Reeves.

At least we’ll soon find out.

The debut record by P--in which Depp plays bass and sings backup--is coming out Aug. 31 on Capitol Records. And Reeves’ band, Dogstar, has been drawing lots of interest from record labels, so it’s just a matter of time before it’s signed.

But these aren’t your old-style movie-star-turned-popster vanity projects, where celebrity is the whole point.

These are alternative-rock bands, in a world that--at least in theory--is supposed to reject stardom. Will that world resist the celebrity . . . or be seduced by it?

“It will be both,” says Lisa Worden, music director of L.A. alternative-rock station KROQ-FM. “[Reeves] is why Dogstar shows sell out. But people who aren’t swayed by stars probably stay away. Guys especially are like, ‘Oh, Keanu is in the band so it probably sucks.’ When I’ve seen Dogstar, it’s a total girl thing--which is a shame. The band is kind of good.”

Don’t think Capitol hasn’t noticed that too. Instead of gearing up to flaunt Depp’s hot hunk status, the company is hoping to downplay his role.

“We’re marketing it strictly as P,” says Tim Devine, the Capitol A&R; vice president who signed the band, which also includes Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes. “Thinking of P as the Johnny Depp Band would be like calling the Rolling Stones the Keith Richards Band.”

But isn’t everyone--both public and press--going to zero in on Depp’s presence anyway?

“Capitol is probably deluding themselves if they think otherwise,” says Entertainment Weekly senior editor Mary Kaye Schilling. “I’ve heard the tape and I have to say that I don’t think it would really attract my attention other than it’s Johnny Depp.”

Accordingly, Capitol’s game plan, says Tim Corson, the company’s vice president of marketing, puts more attention on Haynes, who has earned a loyal and growing following as the Surfers’ singer. P’s music certainly sounds closer to that band’s psychedelic chaos than to, say, John Travolta’s ‘70s-pop album.

“They’re gonna have to look past me to see Johnny Depp,” says Haynes, laughing.

Of course, if people buy the record because of Depp’s presence, no one’s about to complain.

“Sure, it’s unavoidable,” says Corson. “Look, we hope that what it does is motivate people to listen to the record and then get turned on to the Butthole Surfers.”