Robert 'Rob' Mailhouse (Drums), Bret Domrose (Guitars/Vocals)
               and Keanu Reeves (Bass) are the band Dogstar.

                         Jamming turned into such fun, they decided to play for a live
                         audience, "which," Keanu said later, "was a huge mistake."
                         At first they called themselves Small Fecal Matter, which
                         gave way to BFS (Big F**king S**t). Finally, they settled on
                         Dogstar, the colloquial name for Sirius, the brightest star in our sky.

                         Keanu has written a couple of songs for the group, 'Isabelle', about
                         a friend's three-year-old  daughter, and 'Round C', a love song
                         whose title was inspired by a cheese.
 
 
 

The Information On Dogstar's New Album

            Bret Domrose - vocals, guitar
               Keanu Reeves - bass
               Rob Mailhouse - drums

               Ask singer and guitar player Bret
               Domrose what it was like for Dogstar to
               record Happy Ending, the Los
               Angeles-based rock band's debut U.S.
               album, and he thinks for a few moments
               and, in a moment of absolute
               understatement, replies:

               "Well, I will say this. It was a long
               process, but it's finally done."

               A long process? How about a grueling
               test of a young band's commitment to
               succeed, and to make great music
               together, while up against the longest of
               odds?

               Try working in the recording studio with
               two different producers, over a full year,
               just to get it all perfect. Hell, just try
               getting all three members of the band
               together at the same time to write and play
               and record, when it always seems like at
               least one of the guys is supposed to be
               elsewhere, perhaps halfway around the
               world, doing something else.

               Try writing the best songs of your life
               while your band is on tour in Australia
               (now there's inspiration!), even while one
               of your bandmates is, at the same time, in
               the middle of filming a major motion
               picture in the Aussie outback.

               Not to mention the preconceived notions
               and uninformed opinions that many
               people seem to have about Dogstar, in so
               many cases before even hearing the trio's
               distinctive and compelling music.

               Ah, but these things comprise merely the
               tip of the iceberg that the threesome
               encountered as they journeyed to record
               their much-anticipated second full album,
               and their first U.S. release following the
               1996 overseas-only issue of their debut
               album Our Little Visionary (Zoo/BMG).

               But as is often the case with Rock 'N' Roll,
               it's the overcoming of obstacles and the
               meeting head-on of challenges that makes
               for the best music. And so it is with the
               eleven lovingly-crafted, intimate songs on
               Happy Ending.

               The album was recorded by the band
               (Bret on guitar and vocals, Keanu Reeves
               on bass, Rob Mailhouse on drums) in
               various stages during 1999.

               Many of the songs found on Happy
               Ending were worked into ultimate shape
               during a sold-out U.S. Spring concert
               tour, as well as at concerts that the band
               played in England, India and Australia.

               Producer #1 Michael Vail Blum, who's
               best known for his work with Suicidal
               Tendencies and Goo Goo Dolls, worked
               on 8 of the tracks in the Spring.

               In the Fall, producer #2 Richie Zito (The
               Cult, Cheap Trick) was on hand for the
               recording of the new songs "Cornerstore"
               and "Blown Away," as well as for the
               band's striking rendition of The
               Carpenters' hit "Superstar." Zito also
               mixed Happy Ending at his facility in
               Glendale, Calif.

               The decision to record an update of
               "Superstar" (following a cover of
               Badfinger's "No Matter What" on the first
               album) came late in the process, according
               to Bret.

               "It wasn't originally slated to be on there,"
               he says. "But I like putting a cover song
               on there because we're still a fairly
               unknown band, and it's nice to have a
               song for people to immediately relate to.
               It's fun for the band, too. We've been
               playing it live for a while."

               If one were to imagine the ideal conditions
               under which to record an album, clearly
               those under which the guys in Dogstar
               have been working wouldn't qualify. But,
               according to Bret, the unique and
               unpredictable circumstances the band has
               found itself in have worked in positive
               ways to shape the confident music found
               on Happy Ending.

               "There's never a shortage of drama
               around this band," he confirms. "Not
               because there are actors in the band, but
               because weird things just seem to happen
               to us. It made for some interesting tension
               that I know helped to make many of these
               songs that much better."

Happy Endings is due out in October