Dogstar is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

group. They were initially active from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, during which time the band found moderate success but garnered significant media attention due to the band's bassist being Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves.

Inception and name origin

The genesis of Dogstar was a chance encounter between

Robert Mailhouse Robert Kenneth Mailhouse (born January 22, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He has also appeared in television series including the soap opera '' Days of Our Lives'' and the situation comedy '' Seinfeld''. He is the drummer for the grunge ...

and Keanu Reeves in a supermarket in 1991. Mailhouse was wearing a Detroit Red Wings

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

sweater, and Reeves (an avid hockey fan and a keen player of the sport) asked if Mailhouse needed a goalie. As the two men formed a friendship, they began jamming together, and were joined by Gregg Miller as the original lead guitarist and singer in 1992. Reeves said that one thing led to another in the band's history: The band originally called themselves Small Fecal Matter, and then BFS (Big Fucking Shit, or Big Fucking Sound), before settling on Dogstar, after Mailhouse found the name in the book '' Sexus'', written by

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

Band history

1994–1999: ''Quattro Formaggi'', ''Our Little Visionary'' and live performances

Dogstar was joined by Bret Domrose as an additional vocalist and guitarist in 1994. One year later, the band toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Asia, and opened for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

at his 1995 Hollywood Palladium gig, where they covered a song by Pink Floyd, as well as for Bon Jovi on his 1995 ''These Days - Crossroads'' Tour in Australia and New Zealand. Miller however left the band at the end of the tour. With ''Quattro Formaggi'', they released their first sound carrier in the form of a four-track EP in 1996, via Zoo Entertainment, and followed this up with their debut album, ''Our Little Visionary'', which was only distributed in Japan, even though Dogstar already had a worldwide fanbase at the time. The band also performed at the

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...

in India, the 1996 Zwemdokrock Festival in

Lummen Lummen (; li, Leume or ''Lumme'' ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. On January 1, 2006, Lummen had a total population of 13,691. The total area is 53 ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and the 1999 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

1999–2002: ''Happy Ending'', breakup and post-Dogstar

Although the band members had other work commitments, a second album, ''Happy Ending'', followed in 1999, produced by Michael Vail Blum and

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

. Domrose called the music on this record more "pop-aggressive" than the band's earlier work. Their last performance was in October 2002 in Japan, and the band broke up afterwards. Domrose went on to perform as a solo artist, briefly played guitar with the band

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and is currently writing music for film and television. Reeves and Mailhouse later performed together in a band called "becky".

Members

Keanu Reeves

Reeves was the bassist and backing vocalist of Dogstar and one of the two founding members. He is mostly known for his work as an actor in major Hollywood productions. In the end, he left the band to further pursue his acting career and meet his working schedule.

Robert Mailhouse

Mailhouse was Dogstar's drummer / percussionist and the other of the two founding members. Like Reeves, Mailhouse has an acting career, but mostly for television productions, and has appeared in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Days of Our Lives'', as well as the comedy series '' Seinfeld''.

Gregg Miller

Miller joined Dogstar a year after Mailhouse's and Reeves first encounter as their leading guitarist and vocalist. He participated on the band's 1995 tour before leaving the band.

Bret Domrose

Domrose joined in 1994 as an additional guitarist and vocalist. After Miller's departure from the band, he took the lead guitar and vocals position.

Appearances and influences

The band appeared in the 1999 road drama ''

Me and Will ''Me and Will'' is a 1999 road drama film written, starring and directed by Melissa Behr and Sherrie Rose. Additional casting includes Patrick Dempsey, Seymour Cassel, Grace Zabriskie, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy Wirth, Johnny Whitworth, John Enos III ...

'', as well as the 2005 comedy-drama ''

Ellie Parker ''Ellie Parker'' is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Scott Coffey. It stars Naomi Watts in the title role, a young woman struggling as an actress in Los Angeles. ''Ellie Parker'' began as a short film that was screened a ...

''. Dogstar had several opening acts that went on to become notable, such as Rancid and

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

(the latter's first gig was opening for Dogstar).

Discography

EPs

*1996: ''Quattro Formaggi'' ( Zoo Entertainment)

Albums

*1996: ''

Our Little Visionary ''Our Little Visionary'' is the debut album by rock trio Dogstar. It was primarily distributed in Japan. It was recorded and mixed at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California and mastered at Precision Mastering. Track listing # "Forgive" – 1:59 ...

'' ( Zoo Entertainment) *2000: ''

Happy Ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protago ...

'' (Ultimatum Music)

Other

* 2004: "Shine" on the Mr. Big

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

''Influences & Connections - Volume One: Mr. Big'' ("Shine" originally appeared on the Mr. Big album ''

Actual Size ''Actual Size'' is the sixth album by the American rock band Mr. Big, released in August 2001. It was their second and final studio album to feature guitarist Richie Kotzen. ''Actual Size'' would be Mr. Big's final studio album for 9 years, unti ...

'')

References

External links

Dogstar
on Myspace {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from California American post-grunge musical groups American musical trios Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Zoo Entertainment (record label) artists