Chito Miranda on the Eraserheads: 'They're friends enough to work together'

Chito Miranda spilled the beans on how the Eraserheads are like behind the scenes.

In an interview on “Updated with Nelson Canlas,” the musician said that the band members are "friends enough to work together.”

The Eraserheads’ friendship is often compared to that of Parokya Ni Edgar's. The Eraserheads are known to not be friends but rather are civil as bandmates, whereas Parokya is known to be a tight-knit group whose friendship goes back to childhood.

“When they work together, they're good, they're okay, pero it's not like iyon 'yung bestest friends nila,” Chito said. “They are not the bestest — hindi sila 'yung pinaka, 'pag may problema [sa asawa,] hindi 'yung mga bandmates niya lalapitan, lalapitan niya mga barkada niya.”

He added that each member has their own circle.

“Pero after the gig, si Buddy [Zabala,] may sariling circle of friends 'yan. Si Raimund [Marasigan] doon sa mga musician friends niya.”

Chito said that the Eraserheads drummer is so outgoing and also hangs out with rising musicians. Raimund is also part of several bands, “kasi ang dami niyang kaibigan.”

“Tapos si Marcus [Adoro,] may sarili lang siyang mundo sa surfing niya, parang ganu'n," he added.

On vocalist Ely Buendia, Chito said, “Si Ely alam mo, akala lang ng mga tao na masungit siya kasi tahimik, pero sa totoo, ang closest friends niya 'yung mga staff at roadie, doon sila lahat nakapaligid. So akala nila mayabang kasi hindi siya nakikisama.”

Chito shared that Ely has kept the same staff since the ‘90s up until his current career as a solo artist.

“Alam mo, 'pag pumunta ka sa bahay nila no'ng time na nakakatambay [ako,] he'd always be surrounded with the staff and roadie, and sila lang talaga 'yan,” Chito said. “Up to now, sobrang loyal nila sa isa't isa. And that says a lot about him.”

Regarding the comparison with Parokya’s friendship, Chito understands fans’ disappointment “because they have this vision of Eheads na sobrang magkakaibigan 'yan.”

“Ako as a fan, inakbayan lang ni Ely si Raimund [nung reunion concert] kilig na kilig na ako e, kasi alam ko history how they were bandmates,” he said. “Sa sobrang close nila, nag-away-away na lang sila and that happens with real friends. Pero I guess may kanya kanya silang circle of friends. I could only speak from someone who is not in the circle but I know because I'm a fan, we get to hang out with them.”

“With Parokya kasi, more than anything talaga, friends kami,” he added.

The Eraserheads reunited in 2022 for a sold-out show at the SMDC Festival Grounds. They performed a wide range of their songs for a crowd of 75,000 fans, and proved that they are still all about the music. The band also embarked on a world tour in May, starting in the US and Canada.

The band signed a guitar which was auctioned off for Parokya Ni Edgar's guitarist Gab Chee Kee’s medical bills sold for P1.3 million. —Nika Roque/JCB, GMA Integrated News