You’ve seen Keanu Reeves play action movie heroes in “Speed,” “The Matrix” and “John Wick.”
This Friday, Reeves will play the bass guitar as his alternative-rock trio Dogstar performs live at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.
WTOP caught up with drummer Rob Mailhouse, who attended American University and Catholic University.
“I love D.C., I went to school there, I’m from there back and forth, my parents lived there, it’s just an important place for me and the band,” Mailhouse told WTOP. “Charles Town is [named after] George Washington’s brother, Charles Washington! … It’s so close, Harper’s Ferry, I used to bum around that area when I was in college, but that whole area, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, that part of the country is so important and so much fun.”
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Mailhouse discovered D.C. when his mom remarried and moved to Georgetown. In fact, his mom was the artist who sculpted the bust of Francis Scott Key at the memorial near the Key Bridge.
“She was like, ‘You’ve gotta come here, it’s a great place,'” Mailhouse said. “I was young at the time, I was still in high school, so I visited quite a bit and that’s when I started to get into the music scene down there. … All these different post-punky sounds, then the whole New Wave thing was happening at the time, Howard Stern was still there, it was a real thriving music scene and I got to go to all of the clubs like 9:30 Club and Howard Theatre.”
After briefly attending American University to perfect his piano skills, Mailhouse earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Catholic University. He next moved to Los Angeles to act in soap operas (“Days of Our Lives”) and sitcoms (“Seinfeld”), meeting fellow rising actor and musician Reeves in a serendipitous stop at the supermarket.
“I met Keanu when I lived in Beachwood Canyon,” Mailhouse said. “I was just going grocery shopping, I had a hockey jersey on, he was there buying a banana or something, and he came up to me like, ‘Do you play hockey?’ I was like, ‘I do.’ And he goes, ‘I’m a goalie!’ So, we ended up playing hockey together every Tuesday and Thursday in Burbank. I went to his house and he had all of this neat gear set up like drums, bass and guitar in his garage.”
In 1991, the same year that Reeves starred in “Point Break” and “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” he formed Dogstar with Mailhouse and vocalist Gregg Miller. In 1994, the same year that Mailhouse and Reeves acted together in “Speed” (1994), Dogstar added guitarist Bret Domrose, who would soon replace Miller on lead vocals a year later.
“We shot that scene on the elevator together, I’ll never forget that, but Dogstar has been a very healthy, not a hobby, it’s more intense than that,” Mailhouse said. “We work so hard and put in so many hours. Other bands are like, ‘You rehearse way more than we do.’ My friends in The Strokes are like, ‘You guys play way more than we do!'”
Together, the multitalented trio busted loose from garage rehearsals to actually release its first album “Our Little Visionary” (1996) on the label of Zoo Entertainment. Their second album “Happy Ending” (2000) dropped on the label of Ultimatum Music and would be the last original music that Dogstar would release for over two decades.
“We took such a long break and the band is so different now, we try to rehearse those older songs and we’re like, ‘Who is that band?’ It’s like going to a high-school reunion like, ‘I don’t remember you!'” Mailhouse said. “Keanu is very involved in writing the verses and melodies, he’s such a good bass player. Bret’s adjusted, he’s different, he’s filling in his sonic guitar sounds around Keanu’s melodies and bass hooks. It’s just a different sound.”
After a 23-year hiatus, Dogstar fans were thrilled to see the band finally release its long overdue third album “Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees” for Dillon Street Records last October.
“We have this new record that’s out, then we have 12 new songs,” Mailhouse said. “We were gonna record them really soon because we’re ready to do the next record, but Keanu was like, ‘It’s summer! I wanna go play more!’ … Keanu’s been on a tear, he’s just been coming up with all these crazy bass hooks like Peter Hook of Joy Division. … I just sort of hang out [on drums]. He’ll say, ‘I follow you,’ and I’ll go, ‘I follow you,’ and we’re like, ‘What the hell?'”
Listen to our full conversation on the podcast below:
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