Ely Buendia answers your questions on the Eraserheads reunion tour
Editor's note: As the band prepares for its four city North American Eraserheads reunion tour this October, Ely Buendia answers five questions his fans posted here.
1. On why, other than money, he agreed to the reunion tour
Meme • Hello Ely, I remember when you tweeted … something like "anyone who tweet me about Eheads will be blocked...i don't want to be sad,who does." It seems to me you loathe to be associated with Eheads nowadays. I understand you have other bands as good as the former. Sorry about the segue, my question is What made you & the guys push thru with the North Am tour? Aside from the great deal of bucks (a given). After all, the last reunion concert shouldn't be called "The Final Set."
I don't mean to sound negative about it all the time, but I do feel that everyone's obsession with reunions and nostalgia is not doing anyone any sort of good. This whole "death of OPM" thing is an imagined state of affairs that has been made semi-acceptable by the fact that right now people consider any kind of new music that fails to live up to the past in terms of sales or cultural impact a failure. This is what makes me depressed. And you should be too. I can name ten bands out there who are making vital, exciting music. You've never heard of them, they don't sell gold records, but who says they should?
Anyway, to answer your question, Meme, I wanted my kids to see the States. I don't know about the other guys. People will scoff at this, but it's really not about the money. We could be earning the same amount over here (albeit with more gigs) and with less hassle.
Yes, the Final Set was supposed to be final. That's what the band intended. We would not mind at all if it was. We're perfectly happy with what we're doing now, without the gargantuan baggage that comes with being in the Heads and people going on all the time on why we do the things we do. Trying to please everyone is hard. A lot of our fans from the States have been pressuring us nonstop, and we have relatives and friends over there, so our only option was to give in.
2. On unreleased Eraserheads tracks
Nongski • Are there any unreleased or unrecorded Eraserheads songs and is there a possibility of having them released along with rare tracks? Good luck on the tour by the way!
Thanks! The only unreleased tracks that I know of are a couple of English songs that we recorded when we were in college. Those are included in the "POP-U" (without a doubt a collector's item) album, and there have been bootleg copies circulating for a long time. This has not been released officially because they are of very poor quality recording-wise and are far from the "Pare Ko" type of songs that people have identified as Eheads music.
3. On plans with other Eheads after the tour
Rodel • What's next for the E-heads after this tour? Will there be a chance for a collaboration album with the rest of the band members? I mean not as E-heads but simply artists doing songs for their audience. Thank you for giving an answer to this one sir Ely.
We don't really have any plans other than resume our normal lives and get back to work on our own projects. As far as recording new songs, honestly, what kind of music do you think we would be making right now? People have their own opinion on what we should sound like and I doubt there is any chance we would be able to meet and satisfy all those expectations.
4. On the best Eheads song
Alondra • My top 5 best Eheads songs: 1. Spoliarium 2. Alapaap 3. Ang huling el bimbo 4. Minsan 5. Pare ko. What's yours?
There's no such thing as "best" Eheads songs.
5. On new bands today
Just Asking • Kumpara sa kapanahunan at kasikatan ng Eheads nung 90's, ano masasabi mo idol Ely sa mga bagong banda ngaun? Any tips para maging matagumpay na OPM band?
Pakibasa na lang ang sagot ko sa first question. Salamat.
