Eraserheads’ Raimund Marasigan looking forward to Dubai return

Following their hit concert in Dubai in April, the Pinoy rockers the Eraserheads are performing once again this week. We talk to the band's drummer Raimund Marasigan.

The Filipino sensation, Eraserheads. Courtesy DVent

Eleven years after the band’s official break-up and four reunion shows later, the legend of the Eraserheads continues to endure. Arguably the most influential and successful Filipino band of all-time, the music created by the Philippine Fab Four has stood the test of time as a young generation of listeners are discovering the tunes that defined the Pinoy music scene in the 1990s.

The band’s Dubai reunion gig last April at the du World Music Festival was a testament of the quartet’s popularity, despite calling it quits following a phenomenal run.

Recalling the Dubai gig, the drummer Raimund Marasigan says: “The temperature dropped in the middle of the set and I was freezing in my sweat.”

The warm reception received by the band that evening more than atoned for the sudden shift in temperature, though. This is perhaps the reason why the band is invited once again to perform in the UAE, this time to grace the High Impact A2 Festival at the Meydan Racecourse.

But unlike their previous reunion performances, the four-piece band of Ely Buendia (vocals), Marcus Adoro (guitars), Buddy Zabala (bass) and Marasigan (drums), will be sharing the bill with fellow Filipino artists Parokya ni Edgar and Erik Santos, plus the US-based rapper MC Jin.

Not that this is an issue with the Eraserheads, as Marasigan coolly quips: “We were raised to play with other kids.”

Marasigan describes his present relationship with the other Eraserheads members as “relaxed”, while “jamming and enjoying the shows” are the great perks of doing these reunion shows.

Years after calling it quits and in light of the band’s reunion tour, did he gain a deeper appreciation of the Eraserheads’ legacy?

“I guess, yes,” he replies. “But I don’t think about it that seriously. We’re still just a rock ‘n’ roll band playing noisy tunes.”