M'Lou Elkins
DOGSTAR, Keanu Reeves’ grunge band from the 1990s and early 2000s, played their first gig following a 20-year hiatus on Saturday, May 27th at the BottleRock music festival in Napa Valley, California. Reeves and singer-guitarist Bret Domrose and drummer Rob Mailhouse showcased new music from their upcoming release, including new song “Glimmer”.
Founded in 1991, DOGSTAR hadn’t performed live since October 2002, but they announced their return on Instagram last summer.
Reeves told Billboard ahead of the BottleRock show – “I think all three of us just said, ‘Well, if we’re going to do this, let’s make a record.'” Domrose added – “We just knew that there was ‘X’ amount of time, and we needed to make the most of it. We just locked on as wanting to make this record, and it happened pretty quickly.”
DOGSTAR’s upcoming LP was produced Dave Trumfio (WILCO, BUILT TO SPILL). “[Dave] understood where we were coming from,” said Mailhouse, “and worked really well with Bret, layering guitars and doing lots of different sounds and ambient things — things that weren’t just hard rock, in-your-face music, [but] a little more textural.”
DOGSTAR’s next album will be the band’s first since its 2000 sophomore effort Happy Ending.
Regarding their upcoming album, Reeves stated in a recent Instagram post that they will make some of their new music available this summer. “Thank you everyone for the kind comments. We are overjoyed to see such a response. Honestly, didn’t expect this. It makes us want to play out even more…
“We will be rolling out some new music this summer, followed by some gigs. As soon as it’s all figured out we will let everyone know immediately. So much to do, but rest assured, we are on it and have assembled a fantastic team that are helping us. We are also going to make a music video to support our first tune. That’s all I can say now….
“Can’t wait to share our new music with everyone. It’s the most satisfying and meaningful batch of songs we’ve ever done. Thanks again for being so patient with us. We truly have the best, most loyal fans!”
Check out some fan-filmed videos of DOGSTAR from the BottleRock music festival below:
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