“The Story of the Inverted E” part 7

An article by Redel Ramos from PILLBOX: The Official Eraserheads Magazine vol. 1 no. 1 *******************************************************

“YOKO NA”

Their most vulnerable moment came when they had to give up rather than to go on. This happened during a couple of “disbandments or last gigs”.

Of course, jamming was all for fun and grrls. But the, they also had to give time to what they were in UP for ~ pass the subjects in their respective courses. Ely and Raymund were Masscom majors, Marcus was into Philosophy while Buddy was an Engineering scholar. Intermittent gigs sporadic inspiration from “terror” professors allowede the foursome to focus, even for a while, on their studies. But when Marc and Raymund just could not get enough kick and grrls and Ely direly needed extra bucks for some Marvel comics, the combo had to play “Killing An Arab” over and over in exchange for Jollibee meal coupons. Somehow as the fun dragged on. something had to get on someone’s nerve.

Buddy woke up one chilly morning in December of 1991 and realized that clowniong around with a shabby guitar and flunking Calculus exams were not exactly his twin mission on earth. The straight and studious Buddy QUIT the band to seek enlightenment from Calculus and other take-two subjects. And later in Decemver ‘91, when the academic burden seemed unbearable and gave him a peptic ulcer, he got an LOA and sought refuge in his nativeland Zamboanga. The leftover trio took session bassists, noteworthy of which was ex-Betrayed Mally Paraguya (who’s now with Tame The Tikbalang), an underground vet who jammed with them for quite a while. One of Mally’s finest hours with the E-heads came in the UP Fair of February ‘92. By playing John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” and The Knack’s “My Sharona”, the band was able to hold their ground against the best bands within and without the university including the Dawn.

Strangely enough, the shoes that Buddy left could not be filled even by the most proficient bassists around. Without Holy Buddy, the rest of the E-heads could not seem to put their acts together. There were things that made matters worse ~ the “thesisphobia”, the heartaches of course, and the conflicting views on Bart Simpson and the theory of historical materialism. Ely, Marc and Raymund could not seem to put their acts together. On the verge of calling it quits, the long-lost Buddy returned to the gold sometime in March ‘92 with an enlightened message, “F~~~ school!”

The second “break-up” happened at Club Dredd sometime in ‘92. Raymund walked out in the middle of their set because Ely and Marcus were doing some incomprehensible “trippings” on the stage. Buddy admitted, “We were banned from Dredd for a month because of that. Wala kaming hanapbuhay. Ang hirap.”

But after a month. Raymund, the “bad trip” and irritation gone altogether, returned because he missed banging the drumkit. Besides, the ban was lifted and they had to fulfill commitments. “Kailangan naming tumugtog uli dahil kasama na ulit kami sa schedule ng Dredd,” Raymund intimated.

to be continued…

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