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Ely Buendia on Flying Solo
November 1, 2010I’m not going to play it cool, I’m a big fan of Ely Buendia. So when I bumped into him in (would you believe it) Legazpi City, Albay, all hell broke loose in my head (well, not really “all”), and a 5-minute, no, 10-minute chit-chat had to happen. We talked mostly about working on his album In Love And War, and here’s how the interview went:
How’s working as a solo artist?
I’ve never tried it before so it’s something new. When you’ve been in the business as long as I have, medyo you want to try out different stuff. See, I wasn’t supposed to be doing this alone, as you well know. I was planning this with Francis (Magalona). We were supposed to tour the country after the release of the album. So this is my way of honoring that.
Do you control everything?
Yes, I have to! Well, just this once, it’s also liberating to be this—tell the band to play this and they will play it.
How about the touring aspect?
We have a couple of shows lined up na for the provinces. Right now, I’m concentrating on the provinces, while my other band Pupil, parang teritoryo kasi ng Pupil ‘yung Manila. I didn’t want to get people mixed up.
Kasi ngayon pa nga lang, people are asking, “Solo na ba talaga si Ely? Wala na ba talagang Pupil?”
So, this is more like a side project for you?
Not in the sense na I don’t take it seriously. I mean, this could be my main project, at least now, while the third Pupil album is still being mixed. So I’m pouring all my energy on this one.
You were supposed to work with Francis on this; was there any song that you guys did together and were supposed to do that you put in the album anyway?
Nakagawa kami ng tatlong songs lang, actually. The first one is “Higante,” na we wrote together, that’s really a 50/50 effort. And si Francis, he came up with this idea of doing a remake, yung “Bus Stop”—it’s a ‘60s pop song. Tapos, we did another one, but this one he wrote by himself, the song’s called “Bleeder.” Ang tumugtog naman dun, ‘yung banda ko, Pupil, which just goes to show you how flexible everything was. Kung sino yung we felt could do justice to the song or make an interesting arrangement, ‘yun ‘yung ginagamit namin na band. As a matter of fact there’s like five or six different bands playing on In Love And War. So it’s in the spirit of collaboration.
Other than Pupil, who were the other artists that contributed in this project?
Andun ‘yung Hilera, which is one of my favorite young bands today. Also Turbo Goth, tapos andun din yung, I don’t know if you know them, medyo underground sila—The Purplechickens.
Having done this album, is there a different sense of personal achievement on your part? Is this your way of getting to do the things that you weren’t able to do with your former bands or with your current band?
Surprisingly, I still have a lot of stuff that I want to do. I have played with three bands na, actually, (before) I released a solo album. When we started doing In Love And War, it just felt so natural and fresh para sa aming dalawa ni Francis to be doing an album. And nobody’s really done it before. Kaya, I’m still pretty excited about the album. It’s one of the best albums that came out this year. And I love playing the songs live. I have the band with me, which includes members of The Hardware Syndrome, Francis’ old band and nag-click naman ‘yung tugtugan.
