"Ely Buendia,
you don't need to hide anymore."
Fans are urging Ely to make good on his promise
to reunite with his Eraserheads bandmates
if Leni Robredo runs for president in 2022.
Even if it was in jest, they badly want it for the people.
Okay.
Rolling.
You go through life and then you make plans with people.
And then,
and then one of those people changes their minds.
It's like, "Oh, no, no, no. You can't get to do that."
I didn't want to play the shows anymore.
Like I said, I'd rather be somewhere else.
We're not friends?
We're more than friends.
We were married to each other.
I would not wish that on anyone.
It really,
It really hits
very hard.
UP LOOP - UP CAMPUS - MRT PANTRANCO
There was a brief flowering of local music
in the wake of the euphoria following EDSA 1986.
The music scene was largely underground.
The culture was waiting for something to happen
and that's what the Eraserheads were.
When I first met them,
I have to be honest, I wasn't really impressed.
I had a band when I was a freshman.
Most of the band members went to seriously studying music.
And I was left with no band.
I was forced to place an ad in the dorm.
Raymund, being old bandmates with Ely in Sunday School
decided to answer that. To answer the audition post.
Ah, they were not the type of musicians I was looking for.
It also appeared that even personality-wise,
I didn't think I would gel with them.
I knew he didn't want it.
It was like, after the College of Music guys,
you get us? Right?
But he's not so outgoing so I guess he got stuck with us.
Lucky for us, we were the only ones who auditioned.
Just the three of us. Nobody else came.
When he was looking at us, he was just shaking his head.
But you know, we share the same, similar tastes.
My band left me and their vocalist left them,
Raymund, Buddy, and Marcus' band.
So we decided to join forces.
That's when Eraserheads came to be.
This next song is all about love.
PLEASE USE SMALL BILLS OR COINS IN THE MORNING
And I wrote it all by myself.
They tried to tell us
We're too young
Too young
To really be in love
I think it all happened when we recorded
a demo on cassette in Raymund's garage.
And we shopped it around the campus
and it somehow reached organizers on campus
and they started getting us for gigs.
We just played every gig we could get.
Personally, I first heard of The Eraserheads in the 90s
when I was a freshman in college.
What fascinated me was that
they were going to same university as I was.
The language was very lay person.
It was the kind of language that you would hear students use.
And at that time it had only been three years post-EDSA.
That kind of creativity and sensibility,
talking about the mundane things of everyday life,
it was on its way to maturing.
So definitely post-EDSA,
these kinds of music flourished because artists didn't feel stifled.
They weren't afraid anymore.
The songs of The Eraserheads represented really, the dreams, aspirations
but also the realities of Filipino youth of their generation.
We all started going to bars.
Of course, you're students.
Then eventually, "Why don't we play these bars?"
We auditioned everywhere. Mayric's, Anthem.
We got turned down everywhere.
I wasn't really surprised that no one wanted us,
'cause for one, they were looking for show bands.
We were walking to the record stations.
They always said, "No."
"You're not good-looking."
"You're not pop enough."
I was frustrated.
It wasn't really like an overnight thing, you know.
It was a slow, slow crawl to the top.
There was also a time when Buddy semi-quit the band.
I come from a generation where we were told that
you can do the music thing as a hobby
but, you got to get a real job.
There was an interesting moment when we auditioned.
We rode a tricycle going there,
and it was raining.
and then we were rejected.
We were holding our guitars in their hardcases.
We were walking.
And then a jeep drove past us.
We all got wet!
"Oh my god!"
Of course, you were bummed out!
And you know, you just became emo by then.
Oddly enough, it spurred me on.
I wasn't even fazed at all.
I just had so much faith in what we were doing that
I was optimistic that sooner or later, someone would
like us and pay attention to us.
And someone did.
We didn't even attempt Dredd anymore.
And then eventually, we played our last show in UP
at the College of Fine Arts with Lee.
And then the Dredd people saw that,
and sought us for two months.
"Hey, the Dredd people are looking for you."
I said, "What do you mean? We're there every night!"
They came over. They auditioned. And it was a bunch of amateurs
with a really raw sound.
If I recall, their guitars were out of tune.
Someone actually went up to me and said, "Why do you have these guys on?"
"They're terrible."
He just delivers pizza
He didn't see something on purpose
Pizzas and bullets collided
Dead hoodlums on the table
Not knowing where to hide
Grandfather visits in the dream
There is no one to trust
He tried all rackets
Run Barbi Run
Run Barbi Run…
But we liked them right away from the start.
We saw the humor.
I grew up in a town
Where everybody tried to push me around
The girls were alright
But the guys were tough
They're always buggin' me with macho stuff
Well, I ain't no stupid fighter
I go for flower power
I've been running every race
Just to save my face, yeah
I saw it comin' around
Well, humor is intrinsic to the Filipino and Philippine culture.
We don’t generally go for serious topics.
I guess that sets The Eraserheads apart because they
were funny in a way the other bands weren’t really.
I was given a cassette…
…by Raymund.
"Sir, please listen to this," he said.
And I listened to it
and I was stunned by the originality.
I brought the cassette to my friend and colleague
in the Art Studies Department,
Professor Rivera, Robin Rivera.
He listened to it and he was even more stunned than I was.
Well, Robin was one of our professors.
Unwittingly, he was producing us already.
"Cut the chorus." Or "cut up-- that verse is too long."
Or like,
"That intro is unnecessary."
'cause we're all over the place.
He somehow made it work.
He came after class and he asked me if I wanted to hear a tape of
his band's music whom I didn't know.
"Okay, sure. Come to the office."
So he came to the office. And he had this one cassette
and it was full of songs.
It was all these witty,
cute, interesting songs.
He had a Super Betamax 8-track.
He brought it to the Faculty Center in UP Diliman.
I remember it was a Holy Week.
And there was absolutely no one else.
So we would be free to bring in the drums,
mic up the drums, bring in a bass amp, the bass,
and mic up and record.
That's where we did "Pop U."
Bro, I have a problem
The demo that until now, is still being passed along, I guess.
The four of us went to Raon again to get twenty cassettes
because that's all we can afford,
Sony C60 cassettes.
And then this parrot was like…
Huh! Oh my god!
That bird was singing the melody of "Pare Ko."
So maybe that was a sign that it was really,
it was going to be massive or something, right?
It's just gonna add to The headache and fat to the belly
Yeah, I was working as a copywriter at BMG Music.
No one knew that I had a band at the office,
especially not my bosses.
I have not heard of the band, Eraserheads, before.
VIC VALENCIANO A AND R DIRECTOR - BMG RECORDS PHILIPPINES
And Ely was, you know,
not the usual
ideal employee
during that time because you know,
he was always asleep and hiding in the room.
And
when he started like pushing the demo cassette
you know, every now and then, on my table to listen to it,
I gave it a try. My impression was "Oh my."
It was really bad.
It was awful.
One day
I went to Nena's store
To buy vinegar
When they say it sounds like a tin can, it was like that.
We had to re-record everything from scratch.
I first got to know Eheads through Vic Valenciano
of BMG Records.
He had me listen to a demo tape of Eheads.
I think the song was "Pare Ko."
It was a great song. But I had a problem with it.
I was telling Vic, "Vic, it's a nice song.
I can play it, but you need to do something about the lyrics."
Because it had "Isn't it--"
So f**ked up!
So he said, "Yeah, no problem."
So a couple of days after, he got back to me.
They changed it.
What the hell is this?
Isn't it shameless?
They were really surprised by
the amount of positive response they've been getting
from the fans.
Against all odds
The Eraserheads managed to produce a body of work
that not only could be played, but it resonated with their generation.
Because Ely Buendia had his finger
on the pulse of the Filipino youth of that period.
Then they thought, "Why don't we come up with
a warning sticker that says 'parental guidance.'"
You know, some songs may not be suitable for parents.
Many were delighted by it including ourselves.
We laughed. We really liked what they did there.
Hearing your first single
on the radio was massive for us.
And I still get a kick out of it.
VOX tape, take one.
Two, three, four--
Hi! We're The Eraserheads!
And you're listening to your radio!
Yeah!
I'm so glad you could make it
To our show for tonight
I am such a big fan of Eraserheads
because their music is, you know it's different but
even if it's unique, it doesn't alienate you
because it's not as if it's from another planet. It's not like that.
The thing is, Ely and I were singing in front
and I couldn't see the rest of the band.
When the number was done, that's when it was explained to me that
they were fooling around, they weren't acting right.
So at first, I said, "Was I disrespected?"
That's where you can see "we're artists,"
showing off that we don't care about showbiz.
We just want to be artists and we want to express ourselves.
This song it says, Did they feel like they were selling out?
But I hope it's not that 'cause we didn't like you.
Yeah they were punks.
They weren't what the industry was used to.
The industry was used to polished stuff.
The industry was used to sheen.
Hey, I'm Punk Zappa and my hobbies are
radio, reading the song hits and eating the bloody fishball.
Anything that rattles that cage is threatening.
So the Heads were threatening to culture, really.
Take a look at my eyes
Don't you see?
I am now flying
And heaven's close by
Do you want to come with me?
There was a politician who caused an uproar over the song "Alapaap"
because he inferred that it was about drugs.
And… despite…
despite the lyrics being oblique enough.
It's understandable because there are rules
in mainstream media.
I studied Mass Communications and we're not allowed to say some things.
There was a big Senate inquiry about it and I was just bummed out
because I was required to attend one of the press conferences.
It was early in the morning in a hotel.
Lyrics in songs are open to interpretation.
And the senate inquiry brought back that shadow of censorship
during the Martial Law.
And that was the fear back then, that this kind of system could come back.
Can you imagine if "Alapaap" came out during the Duterte regime?
To be summoned to the Senate was a dream for the band.
We really enjoyed it.
We had a field trip and mugged for the cameras.
We were just playing along. We knew it was a farce, anyway.
And then Senator Tito Sotto gave us each a cigar.
And then he invited us to his office
and then we smoked the cigar there.
It was his birthday. Happy Birthday!
What the--? What a circus!
Any form of free expression is immediately suspect.
the forces of conservatism, religious institutions and government institutions,
people who have interests in things remaining the way they were.
They tend to resist any new cultural developments, cultural phenomenon
So…
So The Eraserheads remain relevant in that sense.
I was very interested in the arts.
Not just music. So I go and watch movies a lot
and read books a lot when I'm writing new songs.
I listen to a lot of music
just to get in the zone.
I just start out with an idea.
An idea could be a melody which is usually the case.
Or a guitar riff
or just a phrase that would actually turn out to be a chorus
that would anchor the whole song.
You look like that actress
Paraluman
When we were young
You know, Ely's lyrics were studied in classes.
I took a couple of classes where lyrics to "Ang Huling El Bimbo"
were in the reading list in UP Diliman.
It has a very tragic storyline
and you might say depressing altogether.
So I did try to inject humor
in one of the stanzas.
I think it’s the bridge where it goes, "nasagasaan sa eskinita",
meaning she was run over in an alleyway.
Absurd because no one gets run over in an alleyway
because as we all know those things are tight.
Well the cliche is because our lives are so hard.
We lean on humor to get us through our daily lives.
Even in the worst of times,
people still find something funny to laugh at.
it’s a survival mechanism really.
And that’s the sensibility that The Eraserheads have.
It’s Filipino.
Let's take a look now at the nominees.
The fans really came out.
And it was funny because we couldn't print ballots fast enough.
And my fax machine at home was like nonstop,
like rolls and rolls and rolls
of signatures coming through
at like all hours of the day.
So when I brought these back like this is,
these are the fans speaking out in support of The Eraserheads.
-And here are the winners. -Who won?
-Australia -Silverchair
"Freak"
-Europe -Prodigy
"Breathe"
-Asia -Eraserheads
"Ang Huling El Bimbo"
They wanted their boys to stand in that spotlight,
and say, "Hey, this is us."
Thank you God.
Thank you to all the fans who voted for us.
BMG Philippines,
Auraeus, our director,
Robin, our producer,
our crew, MTV Asia, our families and friends.
Long live the Filipino!
Bogchi!
With our hands together
I had no idea
That you taught my heart
To fall in love truly
We shot a show in Hard Rock Cafe
and I was at work that day
and a lot of the younger executives, the younger assistants,
all Singaporean,
they were so giddy with excitement!
And I said,
"This is a Filipino band."
"Do you even understand what their songs are saying?"
They were on their chairs.
They're cheering. They were just so, so happy
to be in the same room as The Eraserheads. And so I said,
"This is beyond language.
It's beyond geographic boundaries."
It was a really wonderful thing to see.
Get to know Eraserheads all this month
on MTV Land, MTV In Control, MTV Most Wanted,
and MTV Videography.
-Check this out! -Eraserheads in the Hot Seat!
Right here on our most wanted music channel,
MTV.
So you’re on a promotional tour here.
-In Singapore. -Yeah, Singapore.
Anything anywhere else?
-I think we're going to Malaysia. -Um, yeah
and Bangkok.
-And Indonesia. -Oh, really?
Thank you very much!
Welcome to Asia Live. Please have a seat.
Thank you.
Hello.
Is this your first time to perform in Japan?
-Yes, it's our first time here in Japan. -First time.
-And we love it here. -Hello!
-Hi. -Hello.
Touring,
touring everywhere,
it was great. We really had a good time.
I think it was the best of times.
It's the beach.
After this, it's been a year and a half of touring.
We're actually still giddy with excitement because
we've never ridden a helicopter.
We went to so many places which I never heard of,
which I never thought I'd go to,
much less perform to people.
There was some alcohol and drugs and other people around.
So there's definitely high jinks in the States
where we would get almost arrested
and I got back to the hotel
and it’s like everybody’s high!
Everybody's running around, running around with half their clothes off,
I'm splitting and I'm like--
So you weren't involved in it?
Because it's the story, I'm not gonna be in it!
I shall not incriminate myself!
Fame during that time looked a lot like the way it did in the movies.
We had groupies. We had fans.
There's many, many things that's crazy about touring.
During those times, the mall shows were crazy.
They would plan, like the malls, where their escape route would be.
Yeah, there were absolutely times when you fear for your safety.
Their fandom was a bit different because it was,
equally male and female, if not, more male.
And so it was very typical for the men to go out of their minds.
They just go completely bonkers with The Eraserheads.
The males in the audience would like, throw stuff at us.
Like, everything they could get their hands on, you know.
Bottles of piss and rocks the size of boulders.
There was a time in the province where
I had to stop a show because the people climbed up
on the scaffolding
to be able to see them.
And then a scaffold fell.
There was another time where they climbed on top of the van
just to be able to get to them.
I mean it was on top of the van,
couldn't even get out.
The fame was really uh,
kind of encroaching on my personal life.
And nobody ever tells you this,
I mean, they don't have, you know, a course for this. But
when you're in that stage of your career,
you really just miss your privacy, you know.
And you miss the control you have
over your life.
There was no internet back then.
"How to be a rockstar."
Something like that.
We were just trying to adjust to it.
Like, Okay.
Julie Tearjerky on the phone
She says that I can't be alone
She was told that time was gold
We need to dish out an album every year
so it's gigs, it's rehearsals, it's recording,
it's promotions, it's TV, it's radio.
Doesn't end.
So this went on for like, four years.
And we never took breaks. We never took a vacation.
Ha, it never occurred to us to say,
"You know guys, I think we're tired."
No one wanted to admit it. Because we don't talk like that.
We don't talk in those terms.
I come from that generation.
Hey, I mean, if it's not killing anyone,
then it should be fine?
We weren't ready for the backlash.
We weren't prepared for it.
We were kids. We didn't know how to deal with
that kind of attention.
Meaning, suddenly we were making movies, and commercials.
To my mind, we also found it corny
but management suggested it and they said it was good.
"You're gonna do this commercial so you can do this tour."
I guess when something is there for a long time.
People get tired of it, people get sick of it.
And…
They want to tear it down or move it aside
so that something new can come along.
I've dared to be the voice of my generation.
Dare to start with zero.
Even our, even the fans,
the cooler fans were like, "We don't want to do anything with you"
because "you're the biggest thing."
One of the Ramones was playing in Hard Rock
and being a fan,
you know, I went there and the host foolishly announced that I was
in the audience.
I would've just appreciated if they just
ignored it but they booed.
And I was there right at the audience,
in the middle and people booing around you.
Again, I would not wish that
on anyone.
It really,
it really hits very hard.
And that was when I realized that maybe
it's time to throw in the towel, right?
I mean I don't wanna be in a place where I'm not wanted, right?
Hey, let's keep doing stuff
until we start turning people off.
Let's see how far we can push this.
The Eraserheads' growth as persons were exponential at that time
because we get to taste
that "success."
That means also we had a little money.
We had a little more money to feed our brain more, right?
We went to see other places. We had a tour of the US
and some parts of the world.
So our experiences are bigger now.
And then we put that into songs.
Yeah, let’s start with the album "Fruitcake."
It was still the usual, like typical bands.
And then with "Stickerhappy," that's when we started using loops.
And then "Natin99" was when we used a 50-50 machine
and then there was also live playing.
Let's troll them.
So instead of getting trolled, we troll them back.
Internally, we just out-weird everybody.
And outwork everybody.
During that time we were having a difficult time
to getting radio airplay
for the singles.
The reviews also weren't good.
It got heavier and deeper.
Of course, they were better musicians during that time.
They probably didn't know
where to go.
They were a bit lost. Very sad.
We weren't leaving behind the old songs.
We just wanted to present new ones.
And the record companies,
they didn't like that.
They want you to keep doing what made you money.
What made them money.
So when we did "Pare Ko," they want "Pare Ko" Part Two.
So we said, no, we did that already.
"Make something for the masses."
So Ely wrote "Para Sa Masa".
To all who are into love songs and drama
To all who can't read
To all who have problems in school
To all the fans of Sharon Cuneta
To all who have money problems
I always thought the masses
would join us in our journey.
I wanted the people to evolve with the band
with our songwriting
and I was just sort of disappointed that
it did not happen that way.
So that was the theme of Para sa Masa.
I was already feeling sad during that time.
It seemed like they're no longer the band that they used to be.
In the last album, we finished the whole album
with none of us in the studio at the same time.
I felt it.
I knew it.
Oh, this is the last album.
There was that space that was growing between us
and the audience.
And you know…
For ten years, we've done nothing but that.
Shit, I have to book six months ahead just to be away from you.
It was all the substances.
There's like alcohol and drugs and different people
pulling us, you know, everybody had a different crew.
It was the professional stuff that really got to me.
Raymund would stick his nose into pretty much everything.
Anything and everything.
He'd be everywhere
every time, the whole time.
There are two strong personalities there
who were, so to speak,
in charge of the direction.
It's just the way he handled things that sort of, I didn't agree with.
Yes! I was difficult.
I was a punk.
Oh, you don't want it fast, I'll play it faster.
You don't want it loud, I'll play it louder.
Oh, you're late. I'll cut the set.
I think I had a very strong personality
and I didn't know how to manage it at the time.
I didn't realize I was just throwing a tantrum, right?
Basically on stage.
I was very, very insecure of my ability, musical abilities at that time.
So I'm always paranoid that maybe I'm not giving more.
Am I pleasing Buddy?
Is my guitar playing making Ely happy?
I realize now that it's just in my head.
Maybe they don't care.
Marcus would take forever to record guitars.
So that started to get to me to the point that
I wouldn't hang around the studio.
As for Buddy, I resented him for being too impersonal.
He seemed not to be really in it, you know?
Ely at that time just kept quiet.
I mean he was a quiet person really, to start with,
but he just kept getting quieter and quieter.
I'd rather suffer, again, the consequences
than to go through that s**t of
like, talking.
But I know that's foolish now
and I regret not doing it.
I don't think about it a lot.
But looking back, I think we were, we didn't take care of each other.
Because we're starting to get on each other's nerves.
We actually needed to talk about in the studio
which was the most important thing.
We never got around to doing.
We just figured ah, we come from that generation.
We'll survive.
We're grown men. We're big boys.
This is something you just take in stride.
Our generation learned to internalize things
and process things on our own and not express it.
I definitely grew up in a household
where dissent is frowned upon
and expressing one’s self,
especially with authorities was a no-no
and tantamount to treason.
And then of course, like any relationship,
there are fights.
Nobody fixed it.
It was all the pressure of touring and the studio.
I was driving in my Toyota Corolla.
In my car, I had my wife
then we had a six-month-old baby.
The text from Ely saying, "It's time to graduate."
I moved the car to the side of the road.
What does this mean?
In my mind, of course, you're ahead of us.
You graduate.
You were a sophomore, we were freshmen.
The band, the four guys aren't really businessmen
especially thirty years ago.
We didn't know anything about money.
And I think that was one of the downfalls of the band.
Because it was such a f**ked up system that
even though we were supposed to be earning a lot,
we didn't see anything at all.
It was not an easy decision at all.
It took him years.
I know it could have been misconstrued as selfish, that he wasn't considering
the other families.
But when you have your own family, that takes precedence.
I remember Raymund texting back. I don't know, but I think he said,
all he said was "I'm sorry."
And then after a few days,
Buddy called me saying,
"Can we still use the name?"
To his credit,
he asked my permission.
Of course I said yes, but I regretted it.
I give you
the one and only group that still rocks
and yes, they're definitely still here.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Eraserheads.
You look like the actor George Estregan
When we were young
And you danced so well
You don't need to continue as the Eheads because you're broken up.
The band is broken up.
You don't have your singer with you.
You know? Organizers will understand
that…
the Eheads are no more and you don't have to use that name.
It's really simple.
Because I would have done the same.
Which further, again,
confirmed my suspicions that
they never really cared about me or the band.
And they just want this as a cash cow.
And that was my attitude for like ten, twenty years.
That's what I thought of them.
You go through life and then you make plans with people.
And then
one of those people changes their mind.
Oh, no,no, no. You can't get to do that.
Apparently, he could.
And he did.
What are we gonna do with our kids?
How are we going to put up our own houses?
I'm sorry that they had to go through that.
I don't know. It's not my fault.
Resentment towards Ely?
If resentment means anger that you've never felt before,
yeah, that's pretty much resentment. That's how I felt.
I just found a friend indeed
Just hold it down
You can leave
If the fans were brutal when I was still in the Heads,
they were like
evil when I quit the band.
It's like they would turn up
at your shows just to heckle you.
Like what kind of commitment is that?
It's so f**ked up.
And it wasn't really enjoyable.
Like I have to prove myself after the Eheads that
I can write even more culturally impactful songs.
Like twice in my lifetime is stupid.
I mean that's the criteria. That's their standard.
Why am I held on such a high standard when other people are celebrated
for writing crappy songs?
Words were said.
Magazine articles came out.
Probably totally unnecessary
but it was still done.
It was allowed to be aired.
Maybe I contributed to the polarization
by not being a better influence but I was young
and I didn't know any better and Ely was family.
If I was able to go back,
of course I would change a lot of things.
And I would change the way I dealt
with that isolation and with that alienation.
So it was like,
"Woah, what to do now?"
I surfed!
For me then, the myth of the surfer for me was the counterculture.
Being there, away on the beach.
It was freeing.
And then a few weeks later, I was broke.
I had a baby. I had a baby and then I realized
I'm broke. And then, "I can't be broke."
I worked in Liquid Post.
Music for advertising.
It was difficult
to have a day job.
Ah, we should've just fixed the Heads.
It was-- we had it easy.
But you don't realize that
until you go through something more difficult.
They wouldn’t stop.
The fans wouldn’t stop
badgering me and the offers didn’t stop.
And you kind of just throw your hands in the air
and just say, "Fuck it!"
Let’s do it.
Big Dipper north of nowhere
Outside the room, inside my mind
Look forward to tomorrow
But can I leave yesterday behind?
How it feels so strange
To have grown and change
Now, it's not the same
'Cause time slips and slides
Into another place and try
As we might to understand each other
Doesn't really matter where you are
It always seems so very far
'Cause you're lightyears away
You're lightyears away
From me
I was gonna throw up.
Ah, which is normal.
But I was so excited and sad because Tita Lisette passed.
The only thing I remembered from the first reunion was that
you know, my mom died. And that uh…
so whatever enjoyment
I would have had by being together again with the guys
was not there.
If I remember right, I saw him have like, a banana or two?
And a glass of wine.
No sleep, no food.
Does Ely know what he's setting himself up for?
I totally understood why Ely wanted to play.
And I would have totally understood if he didn't want to play.
But it was his call. It wasn't ours.
We told him. It was like, "Up to you. It doesn't matter."
The soundcheck was like three a.m. and you know
Ely, if you put yourself in his shoes,
you can just imagine how stressful it is for him.
How could you go in front of people and make them happy
when you're so heartbroken?
Ely's the kind of man
that prioritizes others' needs before his own.
I remember during the wake,
even though he was exhausted
and was going through immense grief,
the first thing he asked me when I arrived was,
"Have you eaten?" and "Are you Okay?"
Which was actually
something I should have asked him.
And yeah, I never forgot that.
Okay.
There was so much riding on the concert
that I had to do it. I had to show up.
And just right after the first set,
somebody came up to me. "Sir, sir, sir. We need you backstage."
I didn't know how to get backstage.
And then someone just told me that
my brother had a heart attack.
I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to think about losing him.
If I remember correctly, Day went to our tent and said,
"Ely's getting rushed to the hospital."
And I didn't know what to do.
We're not gonna-- Who's gonna tell the crowd?
We, however, regret to inform you that
due to my brother's poor health,
because of the emotional and physical stress
that he's been experiencing,
ERASERHEADS' REUNION CONCERT WAS CUT SHORT AFTER ELY BUENDIA WAS HOSPITALIZED
we apologize for cutting the concert short.
I've never seen a crowd so compassionate.
Some were crying because
their idol, Ely, was rushed to the hospital.
It was a good first set.
And we're always gonna be supportive of The Eraserheads.
It's sad because I waited so long for this concert and
I mean, what are the chances?
It seems so cruel.
For Ely to get sick when his mom just died.
It's just so sad that this happened.
I, I don't know if,
I mean I don't how I would have dealt with it if he didn't
pull through.
That would have been like unimaginable.
Like a huge f**king joke from the universe!
Like, what?!
I don't know. I didn't know what to think
'cause it's like,
"Were we gonna lose him?"
Right? It's like,
I didn't even have words for it anymore.
Your smile is different
Your look is different
Everything's changed about you
I wish I hadn't seen
I wish I didn't have this problem
Because I don't have enough cash
To buy your pretty face
I didn't even go home. I said, "I wanna finish the show."
You don't wanna think about anything.
No flashbacks. No, I don't even want to think about him.
So we all went. I called Buddy.
"We're going to Saguijo. We're gonna finish the show."
I don't wanna cry. I just want to finish the show.
Raymund had this idea to congregate in Saguijo Bar.
For me, it was like
"Is it a good idea to be there?"
It was like "No, no, he would've wanted us to finish it."
Which kind of backfired, I think.
F**k, man. Why?
So that added again to the resentment that I felt
with these guys, that, you know…
I mean, I'm in the f**king hospital and you're out there,
performing?
That's what I did when my dad passed a few years ago before that.
It would've saved us a lot of suffering
if I had known that.
It all seems very silly now
when you look at it from that perspective.
But I was coming from
a frame of reality
that was different.
Why not have a reunion of the Heads?
There's a lot of baggage
and it's one of those things that's not happening at the moment.
Right?
We disagree a lot on many things.
So it's not worth it to just put the band together,
-Right. -for whatever reason
when everybody's doing their thing.
Ely's doing his thing. Marcus is doing his thing.
With you
Uncertain when you'll come back for me
Where do I fit in your life?
Lightheaded
If you look at the history from the 60s to the present day.
You can really divide it into two large categories.
Before The Eraserheads and After the Eraserheads.
Really, The Eraserheads changed everything.
The ‘heads were part of a global phenomenon that was not planned
and i think music in general was looking for something else.
We still hear them today,
even the young people love their music.
There’s something about The Eraserheads,
something about their devil may care attitude,
their audacity, that resonated with me.
I can go beyond my own limits
in the same way that they went beyond their own parameters.
Rock bands, or any kind of band for that matter,
usually sing about love.
But they also touch on themes like friendship
and the struggles of being a student, which I can relate to.
They don’t write for a return.
They don’t write to make sure they can hit a certain position in the hit parade
or they can sell.
They write what’s in their heart.
The music of The Eraserheads isn’t just music to me.
It taught me about being Filipino,
it taught me that there are people like me in the Philippines,
and the Philippines is in everyone’s heart.
Each of the songs really represents a journey in someone’s life like mine.
And that’s the beauty of The Eraserheads’ songs
because it speaks to you no matter what social class you are,
what kind of upbringing you had, what kind of life you’re having.
It’s very universal.
It speaks a certain truth.
If you listen to their music,
it gives you hope.
If you’re sad, their music can make you happy.
Hi, Sir Ely! IS THERE HOPE OF AN ERASERHEADS REUNION?
IF LENI RUNS.
With my whole heart, I believe we can triumph.
It wasn't really to confirm that the band was getting back together.
But it was sort of a calculated tweet also.
It was more for people to actually go out there and register
because I've never voted.
I’ve never been registered so…
to say that I would go out and actually vote
meant a lot to me.
As an artist,
Just trying to
make some use of whatever
influence I thought I had.
I had never put myself on the line
as much as I did when I supported Leni.
Take a look at my eyes, Don't you see?
I am now flying, and heaven's close by
Do you want to come with me?
LET US WIN THIS - RAISING FILIPINO LIVES
Do you want to…
…Come with me?
Ladies and gentlemen of the 18th Congress,
Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.,
the duly elected President of the Republic of the Philippines.
BBM!
I guess, we needed, you know,
we needed something that would lift our spirits up.
The reemergence of The Eraserheads in 2022 was a pleasant surprise
to people just coming out of the pandemic isolation
and reeling from the political divisions
generated by the presidential elections of that year.
By golly, our country needs those kinds of songs
that bring us together.
Especially in times when
we have political conflicts.
It's like saying here we are again as a people
in one big area
singing the songs that we all love.
Untainted by politics.
That's the power of art.
They were a unique phenomenon whose cultural impact
and significance has never had a rival.
No worries.
-Sir. -Marcus.
-Hi, everyone. -Hello.
-Hi.
Okay, guys.
-Right here. -Okay.
Oily Buendia.
-I'll change my name in Instagram. -Oh. Can I change my seat? This one is…
I'm just kidding.
But seriously, this is wiggling.
It's okay. I can do this.
What do you think is and you can take this in any way you want to,
what's the most difficult thing that you had to overcome
for this to happen?
That's a good question.
Tough, tough question.
We've never been asked that question.
Can we get back to you on that?
So that's why I sort of
wasn't keen on working with Marcus at all.
As a matter of fact,
I talked to my manager about it
lots of times saying
I'd rather just continue what I'm doing
than go through all that s**t.
Once in Kalayaan
We met
Each one with their own
hopes and dreams
That song is actually about
my actual friends.
So it wasn't about The Eraserheads.
Okay, I don't wanna break any hearts again but
we were never close.
We were never friends.
That was a very, very conscious
effort to distance myself
from the band.
And the number one reason is
because of Marcus’ controversy.
I really resented him for that,
for dragging me into that
and dragging the Eheads’ name into that.
It's always been treated like a private matter.
And so to protect my family
and everyone else involved,
I'm keeping it private.
'Cause Marcus will keep saying that it is a private matter.
And I agree.
Family stuff,
family matters are always private.
They're meant to be dealt with privately
because that's the forum for it.
Once it becomes public, it's just open to conjecture for everyone
and a lot of things get lost.
I don't know if Marcus made any headway
with regards to dealing with it
because we hadn't been in touch.
When it was happening three years ago,
I gave my advice privately to the people involved,
I gave my advice to Marcus.
I told him,
"You need to seek help."
"You need to ask for forgiveness."
"You need to talk to your friends and family."
And then he showed me.
"Over the years, I sought help with a therapist."
And everything among other things.
To me,
what changed my mind about it
was the fact that
I saw that Marcus was really humbled by that experience.
And I saw that he wanted to make things right.
-Try this. -It's good.
It's still weird. Just like the first day.
-'Cause you were late. -Yeah.
But on stage, it just feels right.
It's always the music that glues us together.
It was never easy.
Like thinking back all those years,
it was never easy hanging out
but playing music was always easy.
Please, please come back to me
Let's give our love another chance
Wish you were in my arms
And you're whispering your love me too
On the second rehearsal, I was approached by
Buddy, Raymund, Ely. And they said,
"Mr. Lumen, Marcus is not playing up to par."
Buddy actually said that if
he cannot play at par, we can replace him.
And replacing Marcus is a big no-no for us
because it's not gonna be Eheads anymore.
There are four members of Eheads.
They have to be there.
If you replace one, it's not gonna be Eheads anymore.
Come, have a taste of heaven
Back to G.
Come, have a taste of heaven
Ely, being the leader of the band, helped Marcus rehearse.
So when I asked Raymund and Buddy, "How did he do? Did he improve?"
And they said, "He improved. He can stay on."
Just today, just a few hours ago,
I learned that all my kids
will be there.
To me, this is not just a reunion
but a family reunion.
So I'm happy
and there is a chance for
healing and forgiveness to happen.
Now, it's much lighter.
Everything we just-- we're just happy.
We can speak more freely
because we realize that we're old
and maybe we will die soon anytime, you know.
Cut the s**t, dude!
What do you think things would be like had you carried on?
I feel that Buddy and Marcus would end up together.
There.
I like Marcus' answer.
Yeah.
If we continued on, then there won't be a reunion.
And take one.
Action!
See you on December 2020--
See you on December 22, 2022 at--
See you on December 22--
See you on--
at the SM City-- SMDC, again.
At the SMDC Festival Grounds for our concert.
Our concert!
Action!
See you on December 22
202
at the SMDC Festival Grounds
for our concert!
Okay.
-We're done. -Done.
It's a nice stretch of years
to finally say,
"Yeah, I'm ready to go on this ride again."
One, two, three.
That won't start anymore.
I didn't even consider what it meant until
we were about to do the rehearsals.
And then that's when I started to
process everything,
ten years and the events that led up to it.
People can forgive and music can bring people together again.
We've always functioned as not perfect people.
We've always functioned as a not perfect band
with non-perfect songs.
We make mistakes and then we just move on.
I think we are more relaxed as people. I think age has a lot to do with it.
The pandemic has a lot to do with it.
Our kids has a lot to do with it.
I think about our friendship like an ex-girlfriend.
You're just glad you're not fighting.
Two, one!
Are you sick and tired of The hassles of life?
Do you want to stop thinking for yourself?
Don't feel like traveling?
Do you just want to lay down all day?
Are you tired of hugging your wife?
I'm exactly what you need
Just dial my number on the phone
Connect me to a scanner
Who's in charge of this Sci-Fi nightmare?
Tomato One, callin' starship crew
Ground patrol Tomato Two
Bouncin' on a cellulite doorbell
Another planet, another hotel, oh well
Snack food shooting marathon
Hypnotized by your own Playstation
I'm a toy with a dream to redeem
Try to change some rules in the mainstream
Mayday! Mayday!
Outta control rocket
I think we just hit a nasty air-pocket
I'm gettin dizzy like a drunken bee
Buzzin' around in the galaxy
Nevertheless, guess who's comin' here
When Saturn flies by?
In a hostile takeover bid
For the clouds
Clouds in the sky, sky, sky
All the lawyers pray to God
In a hostile takeover bid
For the mind
You don't need to leave
It seems a bit naive
No need to disagree
Or seek my history
You're starin' at my soul
My sanity you stole
But then I knew all along
My mother always told me that I was a natural singer.
Instead of her singing me to sleep,
it was me that was singing her to sleep
when I was a young child.
You opened my door
When I get near, all my fears disappear
And I won't be alone anymore
How am I around the three other guys?
Around Ely.
You might say that
there's resentment.
Nah, resentments for the past.
When you keep on holding on to that resentment,
it doesn't do anything for you.
It doesn't do anything for me.
In my head, I think everybody just agreed.
And it's one of those waves and cycles that I,
you know, some years it happens, some years, it doesn't happen.
So it's like "Oh, it's one of those years!"
That just aligned.
Yeah.
You have all inspired us
during the darkest times in the pandemic.
And we're very honored that this song was chosen
as an inspiration for everyone
like you have inspired us to come back.
So this is for all of you guys.
We love you.
Lift your head
Baby don't be scared
Of the things that could go Wrong along the way
You'll get by with a smile
You can't win at everything But you can try
Baby you don't have to worry
'Cause there ain't no need to hurry
No one ever said that there's an easy way
When they're closing all their doors
They don't want you anymore
This sounds funny but I'll say it anyway
Girl, I'll stay through the bad times
Even if I have to fetch you everyday
We'll get by with a smile
Now it's time to kiss away Those tears goodbye
I knew someday that
something would bring us back together.
And I'm very proud that we set aside our differences.
For the fans.
They're basically superheroes to people.
People see a lot of themselves in The Eraserheads but also,
paradoxically, they are also deified.
And I think specifically for Huling El Bimbo in 2022,
it has the ring of something much bigger than the previous shows.
I think it has to do with the fact that it was
a really messed up time for Philippine society
and a band could not possibly solve a country's problems
but what it can do
especially if it's a well-loved band
like The Eraserheads,
is to offer a momentary reprieve from all that craziness.
And for two to three hours that night,
they served that purpose.
And they were transcendent that way, I feel.
When you have huge political upheavals
that's when nostalgia emerges.
You want to go back to something that's stable again.
That's the power of nostalgia.
You cling to it in moments of uncertainty.
Nostalgia also allows us an opportunity to reflect.
I think we as a nation are still learning.
I'm of the mind that we haven't told enough stories about the past
and we need to tell and remember those stories.
We have to take accountability for the things that happened in the past
so that we can even begin to imagine a future for the country.
It's time to look at the future.
And honor the past.
We were never not friends.
We just had a falling out.
The personal healing,
of course, manifests itself in the performance.
I always said, "I wish we had more chemistry."
Now, we actually have chemistry.
It brings me so much joy.
You look like that actress Paraluman
When we were young
And you danced so well
Be it boogie or cha-cha
Sing!
But my favorite
Is when you do the El Bimbo
It makes me want to move, it's thrilling
It makes my hair stand on end
After school
I'll go straight to your place
And the whole afternoon…
It's something that I was afraid
to do but
I knew I had to do it
not just for the fans, of course,
but for myself, really.
It's about time that I own up
to my faults and I wanted the band to have a second chance
at also redemption.
You're so great!
I’ll go back to learning from the past
and internalizing it so you could not commit the same mistakes.
That you taught my heart
To fall in love truly
We're civil.
And that's a start.
That's a huge leap from where we were.
Of course, we’re not gonna go skydiving anytime soon
or go to the beach
and drink beer,
but you know, who knows?
It could go there.
I wouldn't mind, you know.
Because this is the first time I think that we’ve actually
known one another.
Raymund has his own set of friends.
Ely has his own set of friends.
Because we're always together. F**k, it's us again?!
Then back, back, back.
We were never close that way.
His bunch of friends will not be my bunch of friends.
One more.
And looking back, we never had like "Hey, let's have dinner."
Ever.
Since '89, I never called, "Hey, let's have dinner."
In your eyes…
It's like making up for lost dinners
or lost times.
This is where I cry.
I'm doing things that I said I'd never think about.
Or even last night, there was a joke,
"let's record a song." And it was a joke.
I never thought we would say that ever again.
But that's possible right now.
If you look around when you're older,
you will see fewer and fewer people who get you.
When I'm up on stage, I look around.
And I see Marcus, Raymund and Ely,
Oh, I think they get me.
I get them.
I'm so lucky.
So, it doesn't really matter
what happened before or what happened after.
You plug in your guitar and you play the songs.
It’s like…
It's home.
Laughter and glee
Fill my homecoming souvenir box
Decals, clothes and toys
Spray, spray!
No space left for a poster
You're laughing now. Wait 'til nightfall.
-Oh my. -Hey.
Marcus, what tribe are we?
My paycheck’s all spent
Ely, please explain what happened.
Just in one week
Ah, Francis's blood boiled over.
How sweet is Ceasar’s sugar
The demon cook won't give me a break
Let’s go home
Hey let’s please head home
Let’s go home
Because the world makes no sense anymore
We pray for the safety of everyone and the safety of the audience.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
Let's go, guys.
Everything in life
I need to pee. That's my problem.
Has lost its meaning
-I've been drinking a lot of water. -Did you pee?
Where are the souvenirs
Who’s going to bring them home
Let’s go home
Hey let’s please head home
Let’s go home
Because our world makes no sense anymore
Guys, I love you all.
Oh my god…
Can’t understand anything
Guys does he know where we’re going?
No!
Ely, you are so outrageously popular, you and your band
that it seems we already have a question here.
We have that question?
Hello I’m a big fan calling from the Philippines.
Yes, we have lots of questions for Ely.
First off, make some noise Eheads fans!
Let’s go home
Hey let’s please head home
Let’s go home
Because the world makes no sense anymore
The world…
Homecoming