How I Got to Sing with a Music Icon

I've been a fan of the Eraserheads ever since they released their first album and even though it's been years since they've gone their separate ways and continued to create music with their equally talented bands, there's still that fan girl in me that every time I get to see or talk to an Eraserhead, my soul gets into this high school vibe and I'd be all giddy. It takes a lot of my self worth to control it from coming out but I think I've mastered it...I think. Anyway, one day while I was on my way to Quezon City, I just thought of sending a tweet to Ely Buendia. I don't really know what came over me. Maybe it was because of the traffic that I got bored or maybe it was because I really would like to sing with him at least before I die. So I sent him this message:

 

Then he replied: 

 

I answered:

And finally he said:

After that I sent him via direct message two songs that I wanted him to chose from. They were "Two of Us" by the Beatles and "Tonight You Belong to Me." I can tell that he instantly liked the latter because he replied by tweeting me a few lines from the song but he said that we can also do "Two of Us" if I wanted to. OF COURSE! It's a good thing that nobody knew me inside the van because I looked like a lunatic smiling while looking at my phone. So that was it, I'm singing with an Eraserhead. Although just a quick note, this wasn't the first time that I sung with an Eraserhead. Technically the first Eraserhead that I was able to jam with would be Raimund Marasigan with Sandwich. There was a gig in Saguijo and I sang "Butterfly Carnival" but I don't think anyone got that on video but I have my friends and my god-daughter to prove that it happened! 

So now the next move would be thinking when will this ever going to happen? Or is it ever going to happen? I wasn't sure how busy Ely was but I know he is. And then I found out that he has a gig with his other band The Oktaves at 70's Bistro, which was perfect because I was staying at EDSA Shangri-la at that time which was quite near compared to Laguna so I went to the show and had a really good time watching them. Ely and I spoke briefly and I was surprised that he was the first one who mentioned that cover collab. He asked when do I want to do it, and I said that it's up to him. He then said that since it's a holiday on Monday (Jan 23...Chinese New Year!) might as well do it on that day and with not much thinking, I said yes! Oh, before I go on with the story, here's a video of The Oktaves performing "La Paloma"

The days before Monday I've been practicing those two songs that we will be playing and at first I thought of bringing my ukulele for "Tonight You Belong to Me" but changed my mind the last minute. Monday came and I was off to Ely's place. I suggested that we meet at 1pm but he said that it was too early and that we meet at 5pm (the Golden Hour he says) instead. I've never been to Ely's place but I already saw it in a magazine once and it looked great but it's better looking once you're there (ang pogi pogi ng bahay nya! O_O). We hung out first on his roof deck. He brought his two acoustic guitars and we "practiced" and jammed a few songs (e.i. "More than Words," "Under the Bridge," "Elesi" etc.). We talked about a lot of things, interesting things, but most of them are not blog worthy for reasons that I might get into a bit of a pickle.

 

 

 

He asked me why I asked him to sing with me and what brought this idea. I don't actually remember exactly what I said but I think that I told him that I just wanted to do it, that I'm a bit bored and why not? All my reasons were stupid since I really don't have a more valid one but basically I just took a chance, there's no harm in taking chances (unless you attempt to jump off a cliff and see if you'd still live or something to that effect). Even though we've known each other for years, he could have still said "no." I'd feel sad but only for a little bit but I'd definitely would understand but the thing is, he didn't so it was a WIN for me. I got curious and asked him why he said "yes" to me immediately, I guess other than the fact that we're no strangers to each other. He replied by saying "I'm bored too" and laughed and he said that he loved the tunes that I picked to cover and they were two of his favorite songs and went on by saying "kaya sino ang makakahindi dun di ba?"

So here are the two songs that we covered. That day was epic and extremely unforgettable. The kind of thing that you would want to (humbly) brag about. I sang with an Eraserhead! I sang with a music icon! I FUCKING SANG WITH ELY BUENDIA! And it was awesome! :)