The Break-up

It’s kinda clear to me what the reason behind the Eraserheads break-up is. I don’t need to elaborate more about this just read this. Para malaman ang totoo according to Ely and Dianne Ventura.

ELY’ S SIDE OF THINGS: Eheads was an experiment gone bad. It had escaped from the lab and wreaked havoc upon its creators and the unsuspecting townspeople. With this interview, Diane and i hope to capture that monster and put it in a cage where it belongs, so that anyone with a curiosity can study it, dissect it or just fed it with peanuts if they wanted. Me, I’ve already made my mind up about the band. It was good while it lasted, but now all I can remember vividly is the ugly business that led to the breakup. I just wish those people hadn’t involved Diane and our family. It was really uncalled for. All of you people be warned: if you ever say something bad about Diane again there will be bloodletting. We don’t want to blow it out of proportion, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Still, I don’t want to be the one to talk about it because you would have to put me in a straitjacket and censor every word that would come out of my mouth. Diane is a better candidate for telling the story because aside from being there when it happened, she still has the mind to be objective and the bottom line is I trust her. Her opinion is what I value most. This may spark more mudslinging and controversy or it may finally put everything to rest. Either way were glad its finally on print -Ely Buendia, by email


DIANE:K First let me recount the events of that fateful day when Ely finally decided to quit. It was a Sunday, and we were on our way to my family’s house in B.F. Paranaque when all of a sudden we got a call from roadie Sammy saying that we were already late for a gig. Now the S.O.P. was gigs are supposed to be confirmed at least a day before thru text or handouts. Since neither of this happened, for the record, we were absolutely oblivious of the mall show that day! I mean kaya nga andyan ang roadie to make sure that the artist is well informed of all the details of the show. That was his job. What we resented the most was that kami yung pinamukha niyang unprofessional. Sammy claims that he told us about the gig the other night during a bar show. If he did clearly tell us about the mall show one of us would definitely have remembered. Bottom line is even if he did verbally mention the gig to us still do not follow S.O.P. He could texted us like he always did before. Syempre nasanay na kami sa ganoong systema kahit sa former managers. So who’s s unprofessional now? The mall show pushed through, we had to miss our family gathering. But everybody was already giving Ely the cold shoulder, as if sinadya niyang ma-late. Never mind that kami ang na-hassle because of Sammys #!@up. In their eyes, Ely is being a rockstar. The next day Ely decided to take up what he thought was unprofessionalism on the management’s part with the management himself, Butch Dans. It turned out that the verdict was already out. Butch didnt even investigate further, he just took his employees word for it. His exact words to Ely were, its his words against yours’; Apparently Sammy lost no time defending himself. Siniraan niya agad si Ely and would you believe pati ako dinamay! Insinuating that we were probably too high on drugs that night at that bar to remember anything. Diyos ko naman may pamilya na kami and nag-aaral pa ako that time. We were raising a kid! Do you think pagaaksayahan namin ng panahon ang drugs? I had cancer, bawal nga sakin kahit yosi o alcohol magda-drugs pa ba ako? Syempre gusto ko pa makita lumaki anak ko no! Pero according to Butch, the accusation that we were on shabu came from Mica (then girlfriend, I mean ONE of the girlfriends, of Marcus). First of all I havent even tried the stuff! One more thing, she also claimed na she told me about the mall show kaya imposible daw na hindi namin alam unang-una wala syang sinabi. Di ko naman siya kinakausap. Ayoko na sanang mag namedrop especially now that tapos na ang lahat pero #!& ina, grabe yung ginawa nya di man lang niya naisip na we have a name, privacy and family to protect. Parang sya yung may sayad. To this day ipaglalaban ko ang innocence ko kahit ipa-drug test nyo pa ko just so you know whos really telling the truth. God! That girl is such a hypocrite, sana tignan-tignan niya nga yung kasama nya para malaman kung sino talaga ang junkie! Ely is even more pissed off at her kasi super imbento at pakialamera at pati ako dinamay. I really dont like trashtalking other people. But this time below the belt na kasi what she did. Im just defending myself and my family. Sa totoo lang we could sue them for slander sa ginawa nilang yan. Why Thirdline (management firm who handles Eraserheads during that time) would even listen to just anybody is beyond us. Anyway back to the story what struck us th most was the other three (Marcus, Raimund, Buddy) supposedly Ely’s friends corroborated Sammy’s incredulous and ludicrous story without even talking to Ely first. Ok let me put in this way. Kunwari for the sake of argument kung mali man si Ely, hindi ba usually kahit mali yung kaibigan the least true friend can do is to give his/her friend the benifit of the doubt? Pero in this case totally walang nangyaring ganun. Ang masakit pa lalo e na wala naman talagang kasalanan si Ely pero they still sided with the management. Nasaan yung camaraderie? Ten years down the drain. Where was the friendship? Then is dawned to us that wala na talaga. Ely was so disgusted by it that he decided to give the other three the dose of their own medicine. After all nabastos kami by their betrayal, Ely quit the band just thru text. There was no sense in staying and continuing a band where members stab each other in the back. It was never like a competition for Ely bec. he wanted it to work out. His priority was the whole band not himself. You dont form a band and then go creating rivalries. Ely"s not like that. After all he chose Raimund to be with the band and lingid sa kaalaman ng marami Raimund actually almost got kicked out of the group before they even signed up with BMG records dahil nga he was displaying a selfish attitude. Strangely everybody did sense early on that Raimund treating Ely more like a rival than a bandmate. Even when performing Raimund always seemed to be either trying to show off or upstage Ely, to detriment of the performance. Ely got turned off by that who wouldnt? Well di ko talaga nakita or kilala ang Eheads until nakilala ko si Ely, noon ko na lang sila napanood talaga at narinig. Kahit di ako fan ng bands at wala ako masyado background sa scene, napuna ko pa rin na parang wala talaga silang chemistry on stage unlike the Mongols parang sa tingin ko mas nag ja-jive talaga personality and musisc-wise. Tsaka super humble ng members, there really just genuinely happy to be in the band, anyways going back to topic, dahil may pinagsamahan na sila ni Raimund, Ely chose to work it out and still kept him in the band. Bakit pa nagbanda si Ely eh di sana nagsolo na lang siya. He never considered anybody in the band rival. Ely’s a team player. Ang issue lang naman ni Ely kay Raimund was the manner in which he achieved his personal agendas. Hindi naman na-badtrip si Ely sa pagbuo ni Raimund ng bagong banda. He was actually happy for his bandmates newfound success. Kaso never kasi naging open si Raimund about it, not that Ely or the band wanted Raimund to ask permission. He could do anything he wanted. Sana lang nagsabi or nagkwento man lang, hindi yung biglang tahimik tapos magugulat na lang kami ng magsusumbong yung staff (ng eheads office) na Raimund, with Karen(ex manager ng Eheads) would use the Eheads office to book his bands gigs. Nakarating nga sa amin through concerned employee na may times na sinusulot nila what were supposed to be gigs for Eheads. Bad trip naman yun. Tapos may mga shows pa Eheads na bigla na lang ika-cut ni Raimund short para makahabol sa Sandwich gigs. Wala lang finesse. Again we dont have a problem with Raimund putting up another band sana lang he was more open and considerate, less sleazy. That s it lang. Other than that ok naman masaya pa nga kami for him.

V Pulp: What do you hope will happen after this comes out?

Diane: the truth is we came out to end this at hindi para mag-umpisa ng away. The whole point of this interview was for us to defend ourselves from all the vicious attacks we"ve received following the Eheads breakup and finally shed light on what really happened. Its not a crime to fight back especially when your re#"&@tion is at stake. Kung kami papipiliin we should still not choose to do this pero they left us with no choice. This is a last ditch attempt to end this controversy and feud. We are ready to make peace anytime basta huwag lang talagang mamersonal. Sana talaga matapos na ito nakakasawa na.

To Thirdline(management firm who handles eraserheads prev) just please stop attacking our personal lives. Its unfair. To ex-bandmates: we wish youd stop being resentful and bitter towards Ely. He has nothing against you. Wag niyo kalimutan yung pinagsamahan niyo, wag na din sana manumbat, after all its common knowledge that it could been another John, Mike, Edward or any other man in your places then, and it would have still been the Eraserheads. You are all talented and Ely believed in all of you, that’s why he wanted to share everything with you. Hindi nyo kami kailangan tapakan to prove your worth. There are better ways to achieve our goals in life especially with talent like yours.

To the die hard Eheads fans: its not the end of the world, they’re all still alive and you still have CDs to listen to. Matanda na yung apat pagbigyan niyo na silang gawin ang gusto nilang gawin. If you really love them support their new endeavors. They would appreciate that. You dont need to take any sides. This about great music. Dont be too attached to the image (it’s just an illusion) they’re just people like you and everybody else trying to earn a living. Just enjoy the music, whoever it may come from, Sandwich man or Cambio, the Mongols(Pupil) or kahit sino magaling sila lahat, support filipino music, And sa mga tao na sumusuporta pa rin sa lahat at walang kinikilingan, mabuhay kayo! Thank God na madami paring mga tao na may breeding at matatalino who understand that good music trancends everything including musicians themeselves. Habang may natitirang mga ganito may pag-asa pa ang industry. You Rock! thanks again for replying!!