In a span of six studio albums and over 20 singles, the Eraserheads changed the face of OPM. The countless awards and critical acclaim can attest to that. But more importantly, it’s how their songs, such as “Alapaap,” “Kaliwete,” “Para sa Masa,” and “Ang Huling El Bimbo,” are permanently etched into the collective cultural consciousness of Filipinos.
The band was formed in 1989 when the members were students at the University of the Philippines Diliman. But it wasn’t until 1993 that they released their first album, Ultraelectromagneticpop! — whose demos were rejected by many record labels — that they received immediate commercial success, starting with the song “Pare Ko.” The album paved the way for many Pinoy alternative bands and set the bar for records to come.
From there, the band appeared in movies, became the face of brands and a staple of Philippine TV (remember their appearance in the sitcom Kaya ni Mister, Kaya ni Misis?), radio, and print. The fever only heightened with the release of albums Circus (1994), Cutterpillow (1995), Fruitcake (1996), Sticker Happy (1997), Natin99 (1999), and Carbon Stereoxide (2001) — not counting the international compilation album Aloha Milkyway, released in the wake of their MTV Asia’s Viewers Choice Award win at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1997. All of these albums sold thousands of copies and produced several hit singles.
But underneath these incredible successes are telltale signs of cracks. The band admitted as much in their new documentary Eraserheads: Combo on the Run, where the ‘Heads finally reveal many stories and details behind their over three-decade career. It’s been known that the band isn’t really “close” during their early years, a fact that some fans bristled with when frontman Ely Buendia revealed it in a podcast. In the film, Buendia, Raymund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, and Marcus Adoro talk about it at length.
“During our heyday, we didn’t get to enjoy our time together,” Buendia later tells Rolling Stone Philippines. “Even when we were starting out, we didn’t really enjoy it because we were so focused and driven, and that was up until the breakup.”
To see the band now is to see how far they’ve come during those days.
The energy in the air of Rolling Stone Philippines’ cover shoot was eerily relaxed. The Eraserheads are here, together, all four of them. Only three years ago, this would have been an unlikely occurrence. And now here they are like it’s just any other day. Yet, their presence hums around the studio. Staffers quietly vibrate as they busy themselves and try not to steal looks. It’s not every day you are in the presence of Pinoy rock icons. The band is with their respective entourages. Buendia rests his eyes behind his sunglasses; Zabala sits quietly, nursing a drink; Adoro stays mostly on his feet, perhaps a little restless; Marasigan is the last to arrive along with his daughter, Atari, bags of pandesal in hand. The room livens up and in that moment everything seems right in the world.
Read the rest of the story in the first print issue of Rolling Stone Philippines. For more information, please visit Sari.Sari.Shopping.
Styling DARYL CHANG assisted by KURT ABONAL
Grooming CHUCHIE LEDESMA, BIANCA CORDOVA, JILL TAN
Hair CRISELDA VALDOZ
Raimund wears a Viktor Manila jacket
Marcus wears a Levis’s jacket
Buddy wears a Viktor Manila jacket
Ely wears his own jacket
