Despite reunion talk, especially among fans circulating a petition drive on YouTube, Dogstar, which last performed together in 2002, really is no more.
At least not for a bass guitarist and vocalist named Keanu Reeves, who all but dismissed such talk during a recent press conference for his new movie, “Street Kings.”
“No, I don’t play anymore,” the ever-stoic actor responded when asked if music remains a part of his life.
Of course, that doesn’t mean he didn’t discuss singing on the movie set with hip-hoppers Common and The Game, both playing a couple of very nasty types in director David Ayer’s film.
“I met Common and Game as actors,” Reeves said, “but they're obviously very
dynamic people with a lot of talent. In talking with The Game, he's producing films, making music, he's acting.
“So, yeah, I did get to hear them speak in terms of the music side of it. Common talked about East Coast/West Coast and some of the more kind of historical aspects to music and the history of what was going on in L.A.”
Though The Game did not sit down for interviews, Common had kind words to say about Reeves, too. “Keanu is a great guy, a real cool cat,” said the rapper born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.
“We’d talk about different things, including music, but mostly about ‘The Matrix.’
“I’m not a hip-hop dude wanting to act. I’m an artist,” Common went on. “Still, with all due respect to the music business, if I had a choice, I’d rather win an Oscar than a Grammy. The Oscar seems more prestigious. I mean, you just can’t get into the Oscars, and I’ve got all kinds of friends who can get into the Grammys.”
That said, unlike Reeves, Common will not give up on his music. “I’ll have a new album coming out in the later part of June called ‘Invincible Summer,’” he said. “I caught the spirit about a month ago; the songs just kept coming out of me. It’s some real feel-good music.”
By the way, the next project from Reeves will be the December release of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
“The original is a classic film,” he said. “Hopefully, we have a shot at making ours a
good film. I just finished it (in mid-March) and they're still filming. It's got Kathy Bates, Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Jaden Smith – a great cast.
“Scott Derrickson is directing. Hopefully, we'll do the original right. It's more of a reinvention, a kind of extension of that and sort of appropriated to our time, just as that felt right for then.”
Reeves will start work soon for writer/director Rebecca Miller. The wife of Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis will adapt her own novel, a drama called “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” with Brad Pitt producing.
Uh, just don’t expect Reeves to sing much.
John Urbancich
Cleveland Sun -- Intermission
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