Ely Buendia

Eleandro Basino Buendia (born November 2, 1970) is a popular Filipino musician, best known as guitarist and lead vocals in the Pinoy rock band The Eraserheads. As one-fourth of the group Eraserheads, he heavily influenced and contributed a lot in the development of Pinoy rock during the 1990s.

Leaving the 'Heads

One day, while driving in his car, bassist Buddy Zabala received a text message from their vocalist. According to some fans, Ely said (through the text message) that he wanted to quit the band (the exact reason/s behind this remains unknown except to those directly involved). Zabala stopped his car and all four band members met up. After leaving the band, Buendia was later replaced by Kris Gorra-Dancel (of the Fatal Posporos).

Life After the Eraserheads

After quitting the band, Buendia went solo, having a ten track trip of persona fantasies and sonic landscapes from his fertile imagination All these were recorded in the comfort of "Suite 16 studios" - his home studio (Wanted Bedspacer, Monday Mundane, Kakaiba, Santo, Over 18, Tapos Na, Acid Tongue, Oras, Shallow Breathing, Hotchik).

The Mongols

After putting out an underground E.P. "A Fraction of a Second," the Mongols decided to have their self-produced album distributed by the major label Viva Records.

The Mongols is an eclectic rock band composed of guitarist J. Astro a.k.a. Jerome Velasco (of the rock and roll outfit Teeth), bassist Yan Yuzon, drummer Bogs "Boga Man" Jugo (of the indie pop band Daydream Cycle), and on vocals, Ely Buendia, under the name Jesus "Dizzy" Ventura. The result is a thirteen-track album called "Buddha's Pest"(Keeper, Bulakbol, Bakit Nga Ba?, Pony, Teka Muna, Candy Flip, Heroine, Wig Out, It's Over, Irish Spring, Odd Even, Your Bushido, Instrumental Bonus Track). In May 2005, the group disbanded because of legal reasons.

Pupil

Shortly after the Mongols disbanded, a new band was formed. Buendia formed Pupil, along with the same band members, except for Jerome Velasco, who left peacefully to pursure a career in sound engineering. Buendia chanced upon the band name while reading a medical book. In November 2005 Pupil released an album entitled "Beautiful Machines" under Sony BMG and label Musiko, with "Nasaan Ka?" as its first single (Different Worlds, Blow Your House Down, Nasaan Ka?, She Talks To Trees, False Alarm, Gamu-Gamo, Mary, Hypersober, Dulo ng Dila, Beautiful Machines, All This Time, Dianetic, Kalawakan, Lost Guide). The sound is described in the official site as dark, loud, and romantic. It is very guitar-driven, and the album has a very distinct sound, different from most mainstream Filipino bands, thanks to Buendia's distinctive voice.

Pupil is composed of vocalist Ely Buendia, guitarist Yan Yuzon, bassist Dok Sergio, and Bogs Jugo on drums.

It was reported that one of the band's songs entitled "Blow Your House Down" was featured in an independent CGI animated film "Hoodwinked: The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood" shown at Cannes.

Newspaper Columnist

Ely Buendia has a broadsheet column, titled "CURSOR". The column is published weekly (every Saturday) under the Entertainment Section of The Manila Bulletin.

References

official Pupil website: [1] Pupil Yahoo! Groups: [2] Pupil photos by Ryan Agoncillo: [3] Manila Times article: [4] PhilMusic [5] Hoodwinked reference: [6]