06/29/1997
Dogstar wants to be loved for its music, not its movie star
Members of the band Dogstar.
By Fran Fried
Dogstar . . . isn't that the rock group with that actor in it?Wrong on two counts.
For one, it's a band with two actors in it. You've heard of the bass player before - guy named Keanu Reeves. You might not know the drummer is also an actor with numerous TV credits on his resume.And Branford native Rob Mailhouse, 35, will tell you that the band has never been a career ploy. He and Reeves have been playing together for seven years - ever since Reeves was just the guy from the "Bill & Ted" movies and Mailhouse was in the soap opera, "Days of Our Lives" - and success has never been the ulterior motive.The band and their publicists went to great lengths to downplay "Speed" star Reeves when Dogstar made their first national tour two years ago; after all, he's the bassist. Still, hundreds of screaming Keanu fans ensured a sellout crowd at Toad's Place when they played two years ago.Dogstar returns to Toad's Monday night, and this time, the group, fronted by singer/guitarist/songwriter Brett Domrose, hopes to draw for artistic reasons."The novelty's not there anymore," Mailhouse said last week from Myrtle Beach, S.C. "The last time (we toured), ‘Speed' came out, and they wanted to see Keanu. It was a zoo. That's why we toured in Europe and Asia last year. We wanted to get going just for the music."Now if they can only get a major label to do them justice. Yes, it's true - even bands with hot actors in them have the same problems as you struggling musicians who make five bucks an hour working part-time.They were signed to a big label, Zoo Records, for their four-song, 1995 debut CD, a critically panned disc called "Quattro Formaggi." They then went back and recorded a vastly improved, full-length CD with a big-name producer, Ed Stasium, best known for working with The Ramones. They had "Our Little Visionary" all set to go - when Zoo was sold last November to Volcano Recordings.In the record business, the changing of a regime usually means that most or all of the babies - from staff members to artists - get tossed out with the bath water. That's what eventually happened to Dogstar, which left Volcano in March."We were in Europe (on tour) when Zoo was bought out," Mailhouse said, "and when we got back, everyone we knew at Zoo was fired - A&R (artists & repertoire), radio, press. The new regime just wanted to exploit us. They wanted us to appear on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful' and ‘Top of the Pops.' They were basically (expletive). We didn't want to be with them."He said the band is still trying to recover 15,000 copies of the disc being held by Volcano, but they have their own stock that they're selling at shows and on the Internet (www.dogstarfan.com).
Of course, the band does have day jobs to fall back on. Reeves, who passed on "Speed 2," is still shooting "The Devil's Advocate" with Al Pacino. Mailhouse has appeared on six TV shows in the past year - including "Caroline in the City," "The Naked Truth" and "The Larry Sanders Show" - and also appeared in Steven Seagal's film, "The Glimmer Man."Actually, Mailhouse - who attended Colorado College before finishing his bachelor of arts degree at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. - played keyboards for parties in the '80s, having been influenced by Joy Division and New Order.After spending the late '80s in New York, where he made tapes for parties and shops, he was hired to appear on "Days" and moved to California in 1990. Shortly after that, he met Reeves - or, more precisely, Reeves met him - in a Hollywood supermarket.And hockey is to blame - long before ESPN and Fox tapped into the youth market to sell the NHL."I had a (Washington Capitals) hockey shirt on and he came up to me and said, ‘Do you like hockey?' " Mailhouse recalled. "I didn't know who he was. He asked me if I played. He said he wanted to get into a game. He's from Canada, and he grew up with it. So I hooked him up with our weekly hockey scrimmage."We skated a few times and hung out. He had a garage with his bass equipment. I had my synthesizers."
Mailhouse contacted a friend from his New York days, Greg Muller, and they started the band. But, Mailhouse admitted, "We weren't very good." In June 1994, they met Domrose, who had played in a Blondie-like Los Angeles band called Bliss and had a chance to tour as Sheryl Crow's guitarist."We went on tour with the four of us," he said, "and we realized it wasn't working." Exit Muller, and they continued as a threesome.Mailhouse, whose father still lives in Branford, is excited about returning to Toad's once again. He used to sneak into the club before he was 18 to see NRBQ play, and he said it was "really cool" to have played there the last time.He also likes showing off the New Haven area - and its pizza - to his bandmates."I'm telling these guys about pizza. They don't understand," he said. "I dragged them into Sally's last time, but it seemed kind of rushed. This time, I'd like to bring them to Pepe's or to Tolli's in East Haven. If not, I have a week off after the show to go and enjoy it."---
If you go:
Event: Dogstar, Silver Jet, Illface and Fuel (all ages)
Time: 8:30 p.m. Monday
Place: Toad's Place, 300 York St., New Haven
Tickets: $13.50 in advance, $15 at door
Info: 203-562-5589
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