02.27.2009
I’ve Been Wanting to Take You There
AN EXCLUSIVE ACCOUNT OF A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE MOMENTARILY-REUNITED ERASERHEADS [PART 1 OF 2 PARTS]
[Part 1 of 2 parts]
Flanked by huge freight crates on both ends of the street, the stretch that boxes Twenty-First and Railroad streets at the Port Area in Manila is a picture of wasteland. The structures are in varying degrees of collapse, and the grime and soot almost creep up like they were alive. Today, however, it becomes something of a gold-ridden El Dorado. Two pairs of tall steel poles are holding up unforgivingly opaque black cloths that would shield the proceedings of the day. The onlookers are unruffled, though. Everyone—from street vendors to child beggars to stray skaters—is trying to pull off his own little Peeping Tom. Even ant-tiny glimpses of the four stars being shot will get them through the day, it seems. Hustling and bustling are the order of the day: sweaty guys with clipboards, shapely girls with makeup kits, frenetic video crew people, busy band management people. “Walang malungkot!” the guy who is probably the video director is heard through the speakers. “Pick up the energy, people!”
The four guys who are at the dead center of the frenzy remain patient despite the ceaseless repetition. When the Eraserheads signed up to do another reunion show, they might have been expecting all of this anyway. Drummer Raymund Marasigan, clad in a brown leather jacket under the scorching Sunday afternoon sun, his eyes hidden behind a pair of shades—as with the rest of the band—agrees, “Mas less tense—alam na naman namin 'yung ine-expect namin sa isa't isa, so alam din namin 'yung i-e-expect namin sa fans, alam din namin 'yung i-e-expect namin sa press, so mas under control ngayon the second time around. Nu'ng una, parang, lahat kami uneasy at kinakabahan. At least, ngayon, may certain expectations na.” He takes off his jacket and throws it towards the curb, and he immediately runs to join the skater kids who have just begun to converge at the street corner. “Pare, 'wag mo kukunan, ha—sesemplang ako,” he gestures towards me and my photographer as he gets on his board. After about two to three trial runs, he consults with the kids, like how a humble newbie is wont to do. When his drumkit was vacated, guitarist Marcus Adoro sits down on the drummer's chair and tries a few rolls and passes. Adoro, it seems, is the kind of guy who is wont to try everything, twice. After drumming, he jumps up on his feet and picks up his own skateboard, joining Marasigan and the rest of the trasher pack. “Skateboard naman! Bawal mag-surf, eh; bawal daw ang contact sports, at bawal ang—ano ba 'yun?—extreme sports,” he shares with this author in code. Surfing, the man's other love apart from guitar-based rock 'n' roll, should be momentarily put on hold, it seems, for safety reasons. There is a huge show, after all, that needs to be played. The guitarist is also bent on exercising on the days leading to the big gig. “So, ganu'n pa din; magsisimula uli akong mag-jogging. 'Di pa kasi ako nakakabili ng brief, eh!” we laugh in unison. He then shares of the upcoming second show, “Nagbitaw agad si Raymund ng [salita] na kailangang ituloy ['yung gig], eh, pati si Ely. It's just a matter of paghahanap ng tamang tao ulit.”
Singer-guitarist Ely Buendia changes into a black t-shirt when the video shoot is called to break for lunch. He walks back to his trailer-tent, whose door is modestly felt-penned with an unsuspecting “E.” “It’s kind of refreshing,” he tells me as we both longingly survey other people's plates to see what's for lunch. “It wasn’t as crazy as the actual height of the E-heads. In comparison, talagang mellower siya. Pero, at least, now, we know how to handle that kind of stuff. Ako, personally, mas komportable na ‘ko sa papel ng E-heads sa popular culture,” he goes on, adding, “I can enjoy the playing now, much, much better than I did nu’ng active pa [‘yung banda].” Buddy Zabala walks in and says hi. “You guys should eat; ang sarap ng pagkain,” he says. Ely smiles his refusal. I walk towards the door marked as “B,” whose inhabitant just trudged away a few seconds ago. “That's what you do when you have unfinished business: as soon as you're ready, you get back on that horse, and then you go on with the set,” the bassist opens, gesturing once more to the food, and continuing, “It's not just a continuation—it's not the 'second half'—but it will put a period on that whole phrase. Ang haba na nu'ng phrase, eh; we were supposed to make a statement [in the form of] a concert, 'di ba? It was last year—August thirtieth—and, now, napakahabang ellipsis [na]! So, finally, we can put a period on things and move on.”
In the thick of Zabala's metaphorizing of their ordeal using punctuation marks, this author's phone rings. Ely Buendia is on the other line, saying, “O, ano? Tara!” “Saan?” I ask. “Du'n sa mga gitara; 'di ba sasama ka?” the frontman reminds me of the pre-planned trip. “Oo!” Profuse apologies to Zabala, and then, bumping into Adoro as I step out of “B”'s tent, he says, “Turn ko na [sa shoot], eh. Ihanap niyo na lang ako ng mga weird na gitara!” “Okay, sige, pare,” I say. I step into Ely's van, and he starts staring at the wares being sold on the streets of the port. “Uy, bike, o!” he says excitedly. “Parang gusto ko ng bike,” he mumbles almost incomprehensibly to himself. He refocuses and tells me he's out to look for maybe a Fender Rhodes or a Gibson Les Paul (or reasonable copies thereof). A minor problem for the singer is walking these streets, though. His 'disguise' for the afternoon's trip to the second-hand guitar shops includes shades and a hat—and something tells me it's not going to be very effective. As soon as he steps off the vehicle, piercing shrieks of “Si Ely Buendia!” and “Eraserheads!” start to fill the midday air. Just a few moments ago before the short lunch trip, I asked him if it's accurate to say that, at some point, all four of them have been quite irritated about 'Headsmania. “That is the most accurate assessment I've ever heard!” he says kiddingly, appending, “The only feedback you'd get most of the time when you are, you know, in a successful place, is negative feedback, 'di ba? And, for a while there, I was lashing out at the fans din, kasi I had this impression [that] the fans we're, like, anti-Diane, anti-Pupil, anti-everything that I did after the E-heads.” He paused to reconsider and qualified, in a much more serene tone, “Pero, when the reunion happened, and when I saw different types of people [there] from all ages, all classes, na-realize ko rin na I was, like, narrowing the demographic. 'Yun talaga 'yun, eh. I mean, I had to react. For me, that was crazy. The height of the craziness is, I was separated from the band, and, at the same time, I was in the band—parang, nagkaroon ng identity crisis, eh.”
The trip would be abruptly cut short as the singer gets a phone call asking him back onset. We would pull into the location once again to the sight of Marasigan and Adoro leaping on and off their respective skateboards. “May sorpresa kaming hinanda [para] sa kanila. Sa tingin ko, magugustuhan nila. May mga gimmicks kaming gagawin. 'Gimmicks' ba tawag du'n? Basta, mga part ng show na pampa-kwela,” Adoro would mischievously impart, and he would add in jest, “Magbabasag kami ng ref, 'tsaka TV, 'tsaka camera—'yun ang bago, eh—magbabasag kami ng camera.” I sprint alongside Marasigan, recorder in hand, as he runs back to the set, asking him how he feels about being actively involved in the 'Heads again, despite having active musical pursuits. “All I have to do is show up and play. Hindi naman kami showbiz, eh. Masarap, mas pansinin ka, kasi 'Heads ka uli, pero kasama rin 'yun sa pag-sign-up mo as 'Heads. 'Pag Sandwich ako, 'di naman ako pinapakialaman ng tao sa mall, eh. Pero, 'pag 'Heads [ako], parang may lisensiya sila na [magtanong], 'Uy, kailan 'yung concert?' Kasali 'yun, 'di ba?” he half-asks, with a smile.
*Watch out for the Part 2 exclusive next week!
TAGS: Eraserheads Reunion Concert
