Entoi and Intoy

Their diverse music worked both in the underground and mainstream scenes of the Philippine music industry. By fusing different musical styles such as alternative, pop, rock, reggae, and synthpop the Eraserheads helped change the sound of Pinoy rock.

Early years

In 1989, two college bands from the University of the Philippines, Diliman were both in search of new members for a new group. Curfew, which consisted of Buddy Zabala on bass and Marcus Adoro on guitars, met up with Sunday School, which consisted of Ely Buendia on vocals and Raimund Marasigan on drums, in December of the same year. The four decided to form a new group, calling themselves The Eraserheads. The band took their name from the movie "Eraserhead" by surrealist director David Lynch, which they picked up while reading a magazine. They did mostly covers, playing every gig in school they've managed to get into. Eventually, they made the rounds of Manila's rock club circuit, achieving little success.

The band recorded a nine-song demo tape in the garage of Marasigan's provincial home (in Candelaria, Quezon) on January 6, 1991.[5] They then shopped the demo cassette around record labels, clubs and radio stations, hoping to have their songs reach the public. However, they were rejected at every turn, with one recording label deeming that their demo was "not pop enough". In May 1991, a professor-friend teaching Humanities, Robin Rivera, helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demo songs on a four-track DAT recorder.The new demo was named Pop-U!, in response to those who turned them down.

Meanwhile, Buendia became employed as a student copywriter by BMG Records Pilipinas (now part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment). He worked with BMG during the day and wrote songs with the band during the night. Eventually, the songs of Buendia and the band caught the attention of BMG A&R Director Vic Valenciano. Valenciano listened to the songs and then commented that they were very raw technically, but that there was something promising in them. Subsequently, BMG gave the Eraserheads' songs a try.[3] In 1992, BMG signed up the Eraserheads for a three-year record deal.

Mainstream Success

In July 1992, the Eraserheads started recording their debut album called Ultraelectromagneticpop!.[6] The album featured "Pare Ko", "Toyang" and "Tindahan Ni Aling Nena", all of which were also present in Pop-U!.[7] The album also featured a sanitized version of "Pare Ko" called "Walang Hiyang Pare Ko".[8] Later in the same year, BMG initially released 5,000 copies of the album. The album became a smash, with the songs "Ligaya", "Pare Ko" and "Toyang" topping the charts, that, by the end of the year, BMG sold 300,000 copies, and Ultraelectromagneticpop! turned sextuple platinum.

The album met some opposition as the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) attempted to censor "Pare Ko" but without success.[9] The public was said to have found its OPM Fab Four in the Eraserheads, opening the second wave of band invasion.[3] The Eraserheadsmania was born.[10]

In October 1994, the Eraserheads came up with a follow-up album entitled Circus.[6] The band said that the album aptly described their life since their smashing debut. The album was unpredictable and unconventional compared to the OPM ballads at that time, and established the band members as good songwriters and musicians. The songs varied in style and mood, ranging from euphoric and hilarious to tender and somber.[9]

Five of the songs became successive hits: "Kailan", "Magasin", "Alapaap", "With A Smile" and "Sembreak".[11] Circus turned gold in just 30 days with 20,000 copies sold. Eventually, it turned quintuple platinum with 200,000 copies sold.[11] But like Ultraelectromagneticpop!, it too had its share of controversy. In August 1995, Senator Tito Sotto, who was involved in an anti-drug campaign at that time, called for a ban on the airplay and sales of "Alapaap" over an alleged promotion of drug abuse in the lyrics of the song.[6][9] In response, the Eraserheads denied the allegation, saying that the it was just a misinterpretation, and that the song was the band's "ode to freedom", not an "ode to drug abuse".[12]

Their much-awaited third album, Cutterpillow, was launched via an open-air concert attended by fans and followers in colossal proportions. With Christmas barely a month over, the Eraserheads opened 1996 by making history in the Philippine music scene once more. Cutterpillow turned gold, even before it hit the record stores, as a result of the pre-selling promo campaign. Soon, the band shot the music video for the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (The Last El Bimbo) from the album.[10]

Later that year, the Eraserheads came up with a conceptual Christmas album called Fruitcake. This was shortly followed by a release of a companion storybook of the same title.[10]

Also in 1996 the Eraserheads starred with Comedian/TV Host Joey De Leon of Eat Bulaga in a comedy film produced By GMA Network's Cinemax Studios (now GMA Films), "Run Barbi Run".

Going International

The year 1997 was marked with a series of gigs outside of the Philippines. The Eraserheads' first ever overseas gig was at BMG Records' "Sentosa Pop Festival" in Singapore in March 1997. It was then followed by a mini U.S. tour in May. Then, four months later in September, they were at the Radio City Music Hall in New York to receive the coveted "Moon Man" trophy for winning the 1997 MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award, which made the Eraserheads, the first ever Filipino artists to win the award.

Their fifth album, Sticker Happy, was released a few days after the MTV Awards. A month later, they were back in Singapore for a series of shows and appearances for MTV Asia.

In February 1998, they represented the Philippines at the annual "Asia Live Dream '98" for NHK Broadcasting in Tokyo, Japan. Then in May, they embarked on another U.S. tour, taking them from Oakland to Los Angeles and to New York.[10] The band toured the U.S. under the Happy Box production outfit, which was formed by brothers Haro De Guzman and Levan "Schizo" De Guzman and some other friends.

August 1998 saw the release of the album Aloha Milkyway in the Asian region, and finally in the Philippines two months later. The album contains chart-topping songs that have been re-mastered, as well as five new songs.

In early 1999, they did sold-out shows in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Dubai. Their next album, Natin99, was released in May.

Between May and June 2000, they did another tour of America dubbed, "The Pop Machine Tour - USA2000", taking them from New York to Chicago and to California. During their tours, they also had Noel Garcia as an addition to their expanded line-up, he plays guitars, keyboards, and sometimes drums. After almost two years, the much-awaited studio album, Carbon Stereoxide, was released in March 2001, featuring the tracks, "Maskara", "Playground" and "Hula."

Break-up

After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed that the main songwriter and lead singer, Ely Buendia, had left the band in mid-March 2002 for "reasons unknown". However, in subsequent interviews, Buendia pointed to business matters as the cause of the band's break-up.

In a PULP Magazine interview, Buendia's wife and manager, Diane Ventura, claimed that the breakup started with a miscommunication between Buendia and the band's roadie. The result was that Buendia and Ventura turned up late at a mall gig. This angered the roadie and called them "unprofessional". Everybody else on the gig gave Buendia "a cold shoulder", said Ventura, thinking that he deliberately came late. The next day, Buendia brought up the incident to the attention of the band's then manager Butch Dans. Buendia allegedly blamed the incident to the management's "unprofessionalism". Dans, however, allegedly chose to believe the roadie's account over Buendia's, without delving further into the matter. Dans even allegedly quipped that Buendia and Ventura were "probably too high on drugs" to remember the gig's schedule. Ventura vehemently disputed the allegation and denied that she and Buendia were even told of the schedule. She added that the three other band members also believed the roadie's account, which deeply upset Buendia because he felt they had betrayed their longstanding friendship. Buendia later announced to his bandmates through SMS that he was quitting the band.

In another interview, Marasigan said he was eating in SM Megamall, a local shopping mall, when he heard of the news (how he heard of it, was not clear). He said he was "semi-surprised" and wondered if Zabala already knew about it.[17] Adoro told of the story now famous among Eraserheads fans about Buendia's cryptic text message. He said Buendia stated in the text message that he had already "graduated." Adoro quipped in the same interview that it was natural for Buendia to graduate first, since he was in batch '87 of their college (UP Diliman), while the rest were in batch '88.[17]

Zabala confessed in an interview that disbanding had not been that far away from the members' minds. He said that there were many occasions wherein they could have disbanded but did not.[18]

Adoro expressed the belief of some people that the band was getting too old, and that it was "selfish" for the band to continue, likely referring to comments about how it's time for other bands, besides the Eraserheads, to shine.[18] The band made it clear, though, that Buendia's departure from the band wasn't in any way violent and that there was no shouting (sigawan) or any confrontation involved.[18]

Without relenting, the three remaining Eraserheads decided to continue. Within a few weeks, the "new" Eheads debuted at Hard Rock Cafe in Makati City on April 19, featuring a female singer-guitarist, Kris Gorra-Dancel from the band, Fatal Posporos. However after a few months, Adoro quit the band as well. The remaining members of the Eheads added Diego Mapa and Ebe Dancel to their lineup and renamed their band, "Cambio."

Members

Eleandre Basiño Buendía, popularly known as Ely Buendia, and also once adopting the stage name, Jesus "Dizzy" Ventura, (born November 2, 1970) is a Filipino writer and musician, who gained fame as guitarist, songwriter, and lead vocalist in the popular Pinoy rock band, The Eraserheads. His gift in songwriting, in which he contributed heavily to the band, has earned him a reputation as one of the most respected icons in the country. He currently performs as guitarist and lead vocalist for the band, Pupil.

Raimund Emmanuel Parcon Marasigan (born May 22, 1971) is a rock musician and record producer in the Philippines. The breadth of his projects has made him one of the most well-respected mainstays of the Philippine rock band scene. He was the drummer of The Eraserheads, and the current keyboard/synths player for Pedicab, former guitarist and now frontman of Sandwich, current drummer of Cambio, vocalist of Project 1 and the man behind Squid 9. Aside from writing songs and being a musician, he is also a record producer, voice actor, tv host and product endorser.

Hector "Buddy" Avacena Zabala (born November 13, 1971) was widely known as the bassist of the Filipino alternative rock band, The Eraserheads. Zabala currently plays bass for another legendary Pinoy rock band, The Dawn, as well as for Cambio, Twisted Halo and Sun Valley Crew. For his bass work for Cambio ("Derby Light") and Twisted Halo ("In Loving Memory of the Fearless Exploits of the Bolo Brigade"), Zabala was awarded the 2004 NU Rock Awards "Bassist of the Year". He also helps produce albums for other local bands such as Boldstar, Twisted Halo, Itchyworms, Fatal Posporos and Sugarfree.

Marcus Antonius Corpuz Adoro (born December 31, 1971) is the former lead guitarist of the Eraserheads, one of the most popular bands in the Philippines during the 90's alternative rock explosion. He currently goes under the stage name or band name, Markus Highway. Contents