Years later when I was in College an was surrounded with my "Senpais" (Upperclassmen/Predecessors) AKA much older colleagues- Paul included in the College publication (school newspaper) they would always be playing their music in the office (Gin Blossoms, Mr. Big, Stone Temple Pilots, Slipknot) and of course The Eraserheads were never far behind, especially with the release of the Ultraelectro Magnetic Pop tribute album which of course also featured OPM's finest covering Eraserheads hits. The tribute album served as a bridge for me to admire OPM artists at that time, such as Imago, Barbie Almalbis, Kitchie Nadal, Sugarfree, 6 Cycle Mind, and of course to renew my admiration for The Eraserheads as well.
Now, six years later after graduating College and after beginning this crusade of mine of writing about OPM (started about a year ago) The Eraserheads are once again, shaking the OPM scene by coming out with two brand new songs over a decade after their last single! was released in such an unconventional way! -releasing a CD with the two songs, in the September issue of Esquire Philippines magazine.
The band could have made much more money if the songs were release let's say through a telco company and with the many music apps out there today, releasing the two songs exclusively through an app would have been a gold mine. I bet that the two new songs being released in a "Magasin" (pun intended) was a punch to the gut for the Telco giants, but for them it wasn't about the money, it was about the music.
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| "Looking for Ligaya in London" - Esquire Philippines September 2014 Photo by Jake Verzosa |
In case you didn't know the two songs were released without the backing of any record label, as heard on the Jam 88.3 guesting of Esquire Editor-in-chief Erwin Romulo where the two songs were first heard. It was just something that they wanted to do, they were practically giving the song away, like a proverbial high five to the fans and supporters.
So now that The Eraserheads have answered the question: What would they sound like in 2014? How does all of this fall in today's OPM scene?
Are the songs "Sabado" and "1995" only for their old fans - you know those who have been with them all those years ago, who like them now have children and families of their own?
How does the two songs and the fact that an OPM great such as them is still making music play into the new generation of OPM listeners who have Social Media and music sharing sites at the tips of their fingertips?
Looking through my timeline at any time of the day you will easily find the younger generation of music lovers proclaiming their love and affection for foreign acts and artists. I have no qualms about these kids since I know most of them and I'm very happy to say that they also show the same passion and fervor for local acts.
What gets me and it's gets me real bad is the mentality of some kids who think that just because it's OPM it's "baduy". Whenever I encounter people like this, I want to strangle them. I've been to foreign concerts with OPM bands as the opening acts and I've heard people shouting things like:
"We didn't come here to see you!"
"Get off the stage! We want to see (name of Foreign band)
Whenever I encounter people like that I want to dump beer on their heads! (much to Paul's dismay coz he says it's his beer) I mean seriously show some respect man!
Which brings us back to the Eheads surprising and teasing come back (of sorts).