Bald hairdressers and the afterlife of pork chops

Recently a jeep parked in front of my building and started blasting out Ang Huling El Bimbo by The Eraserheads. Generally I do not enjoy having music played outside my window with the bass and treble cranked all the way up. However, on this occasion my urge to drop an anvil on the parked vehicle was overridden by three thoughts. One: I love that song. Two: I haven’t heard that song in years. Three: I wondered what Ely was up to. Then I realized that the last time I interviewed Ely was about a lifetime ago, in 1994 or ‘95. So I send him a text message, he replies at 2 a.m., and one e-mail later, I get the answers. (At the time of the previous interview, we did not have SMS or e-mail. Imagine that.)

Ely Buendia was the songwriter and singer of the hysterically popular, hugely influential, now-defunct band The Eraserheads. He now fronts the band Pupil, whose second album “Wild Life” is now in stores.

When you had a heart attack, did your life flash before your eyes? Was it in color or black white? Was it a montage, or just one key memory?

Ely BUENDIA: Alas, I was lucid the whole time. Not nearly enough drama for a quick trip down afterlife street. That afternoon’s lunch of three greasy pieces of pork chop did enter my mind, though.

Do you put your iPod on shuffle, or do you create playlists for each occasion?

Generally I’m an album person, but I do have an all-classical playlist and ‘70s soft rock on standby during traffic and sleepless nights.

What was the first album you bought with your own money? Do you still listen to it?

The Cure’s “The Head on the Door.” I give it a spin now and then.

As a child, did you know you would become famous one day?

Absolutely. They were already calling me a legend back then.

As a Beatles fan, would you see The Killing of John Lennon (a recent biopic about Lennon’s assassin, Mark David Chapman)? Was there ever a time that you thought a fan would do you bodily harm? I remember a fan letter from a girl who said that if you wouldn’t sleep with her, she would kill (Eraserheads guitarist) Marcus.

I would because I heard it was good. When I left the Eheads and the backlash hit, there were moments when I thought “Wait a minute, this could happen to me...” But you think “Nah, this is the Philippines!” But then you read and hear stuff and then you say, “This COULD happen to me!”

To that fan I now say, “I AM NOT GOING TO SLEEP WITH YOU.”

So much has been said about your rift with your former bandmates, but what is your fondest memory of the Eraserheads?

Recording “POP-U” with Robin Rivera at the UP Faculty Center.

If you had seen the David Lynch movie before you borrowed the title, would you still have called the band Eraserheads?

If it was a movie about a bald hairdresser I still would have used it. The title is that cool.

You were a film major, and you’ve written a screenplay. When do you plan on making a movie?

Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde) directed his first film when he was in his 50’s. Which is to say I’m not really in a hurry to do it. I’ve done my share of directing music videos and my love for the craft hasn’t waned one bit. However I don’t see myself juggling two careers. I want the music chapter of my life closed before I begin a new one. Writing my first screenplay was a good learning experience, but as you can attest, it suffered from contemporary Filipino cinema’s penchant for too much explanation. The second draft will be almost dialogue-free. I’d like to make movies that are unique takes on different genres, much like Kubrick did.

Are there any movies you would kill to have made? What was the last Tagalog movie you saw and really liked?

Would’ve killed to have made Manila by Night. (I liked) Bad Bananas Sa Puting Tabing.

How do you respond to the people who say your best work is behind you?

These people shall stay behind me, along with my best work.

You go to the movies, and some guy sitting behind you starts braying into his phone. What do you do?

Give him a chance. It might be an emergency.

I have a theory that people who very rarely cry in real life cry at the movies. What movies have you cried at?

Recently, Music and Lyrics. Yes, the one with the huge grant.

You also do cartoons. Are there any graphic novelists you admire?

Haven’t done any cartoons lately. Maybe when somebody offers me a job? Frank Miller and Art Spiegelman.

The Julie Taymor movie Across The Universe features the music of the Beatles. How would you feel about a movie musical featuring the songs of the Eraserheads?

They should call it Across the University Avenue.

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For your comments, questions, and song requests, e-mail emotionalweatherreport@gmail.com.