back to main entertainment page
|
|
|
back to main entertainment page |
  |
||
| MUSIC | ||
| The Eraserheads are better musicians and persons | |
Other
Feature:
|
| By Jocelyn Valle | ||
|
ON
A SUPPOSEDLY slow Tuesday night, there are no empty tables at '70s Bistro.
The main act of the evening, the Eraserheads, is playing an interesting
mix of the band's old hits, not-so-popular tunes and current singles--to
the delight of the audience!
|
||
|
Lead
vocalist
|
||
|
Never
mind if lead vocalist Ely Buendia fumbles some of the songs' lyrics, and
the crowd favorite, "And Huling El Bimbo," sounds a little different from
the original version, the quartet that has influenced the development
of Philippine music in the past decade truly rocks.
|
||
|
"Yes,"
beams bassist Buddy Zabala, who's visibly fired up by the band's energetic
performance. "We change the arrangement of our songs a little bit to excite
ourselves and at the same time, make our audience happy."
|
||
|
And most of the time, adds Buddy, they only play their own songs. "Kasi
hindi kami ganoon kagaling tumugtog ng music ng iba," he explains, grinning.
|
||
|
No problem. After 10 years of performing together (three years underground
and seven in mainstream), Buddy and Ely with drummer Raymund Marasigan
and guitarist Marcus Adoro have written enough material to sustain their
regular gigs in Metro Manila bars and their out-of-town and out-of-the-country
shows. (They'll be away from May 18 to June 4 to do a series of shows
in the US.)
|
||
|
Seven
hit albums
|
||
| For starters, the Eraserheads has released seven hit albums, the biggest of which is "Cutterpillow" with 320,000 copies sold and an 8X platinum status, and two EPs ("Fruitcake" and "Bananatype"). Plus, "Pop Machine," the latest single culled from the current album, "Natin '99," is in the playlist of most radio stations. | ||
| But "Natin '99," admits Ely, who looks bored but has has restraint, is not doing well compared to their past recordings. "Because of a number of reasons, particularly economic," offers Buddy, as Ely observes, "Nag-die down na 'yung brouhaha over the band explosion. Merong ibang nauso." | ||
| Meanwhile, some followers of the Eraserheads since its "ultraelectromagneticpop" days think that the band has somehow alienated them by trying to veer away from the "Tindahan ni Aling Nena"-type of songs that talk about real, everyday people and personal issues. Now, the band has songs that have no meaning or relevance to their listeners, they complain. | ||
|
Trying
to evolve
|
||
| But Raymund maintains, "We write music for ourselves. We never write to please the public. Our music is just the same, still pop, but we're trying to evolve. We've grown older. We no longer write about homework or cramming because we're not in school anymore. | ||
| "But we've also grown as musicians. We can now play music that we couldn't do before. We've also learned to appreciate and use the studio as an instrument itself. We've evolved from college punks to more respected musicians and people." | ||
| Ely agrees that the Eraserheads has become a tight band while Buddy points out that their newer albums have better quality. They also try to do more than play their respective instruments, says Buddy. For "Natin '99," for instance, each member of the band wrote a song, sang and played a bit of bass, lead guitar and drums. | ||
| As chief songwriter, Ely shares that composing music for other artists has broadened his musical language and, in the process, improved his craft. Conceptualizing an album for the E'heads, he says, is dictated by the moment the songs are written. "May time na depressed na depressed ako at 'yun ang lumabas sa album. Minsan naman, masaya," he explains. | ||
|
Managers
|
||
| Music, they concur, is the reason why they're together. They've had a number of managers, all female since, as they've said in previous interviews, they can only take orders from a woman. Now they have none. They have instead set up E-hole, which takes care of the band's schedules, negotiations, merchandising and the fan club. Although Buddy is, in a way, on top of operations, the other guys aver that everybody is involved in the office. | ||
| "We've been through a lot worse than losing a manager," says Raymund, shaking his head. "When we started we didn't have anything--equipment, fans, a record deal." | ||
| Buddy nods, "It only proves one thing: the band is more important. We're still happy with the music we're playing. Natutuwa pa rin ako to play with these guys. They still impress me." | ||
| Yes, as Ely, Buddy, Raymund and Marcus have become better musicians, they've also become better persons. Ely cites the many lessons he's learned from the experiences he's had with the band, specially during tours abroad, and the different people they've met and the varied music types they've encountered. Buddy feels that the hardships the band has gone through helped, too. | ||
|
Familiarity
|
||
| Familiarity likewise breeds contempt, as the band has found out in the last 10 years of being together. "Nangyayari talaga 'yan," says Ely. "There was a time na sawang-sawa na kami sa isa't-isa, sa tinutugtog namin. Napag-awayan na namin lahat ng dapat pag-awayan. Pero pagkatapos ng lahat, we realized that we love our job, our music and playing together." | ||
| Adopting a democratic method of decision-making, shares Buddy, does the trick most of the time. "We don't like a lot of things but we also like a lot of things," he says. "The only compromise is we vote." | ||
| Raymund, on the other hand, thinks that respecting each other's space, attitudes, moods and ideas has developed their own little culture. He may be have a side band, Sandwich, and his bandmates jam with other artists and help produce albums for them, but the priority is still the Heads. | ||
| from: The Philippine Daily Inquirer May 6, 2000 | ||
|
||
|
||
|
© 2000 IHTML & Maria Jose All Rights Reserved. |
||