1989–1992: Formation and early years The members of Eraserheads met while attending
University of the Philippines Diliman in
Quezon City in 1989. Vocalist
Ely Buendia previously had two college bands, Bluidie Tryste and Sunday School, and was a year above drummer
Raimund Marasigan (also a
session drummer for Sunday School), bassist
Buddy Zabala, and guitarist
Marcus Adoro; the three were part of another college band named Curfew. Ely posted an audition notice for a new band on a university message board, of which only Raimund, Buddy, and Marcus showed up. The new band called themselves Eraserheads after the
David Lynch film
Eraserhead (1977). 's
Eraserhead (1977) The band played at campus events, usually as the crowd started to leave. They later met
Jett Pangan of
The Dawn at a sorority event, who advised them to audition. The band shopped the demo tape around record labels, clubs, and radio stations only to be met with rejection; one record label commented that the demos were “not pop enough”. Marasigan gave a copy of the demo tape to his humanities professor Robin Rivera, who helped them re-record and mix better versions of the demos. The new demo tape was named
Pop-U! as an irreverent response to those who turned them down. In 1992, BMG signed the band into a three-year record deal.
1993–1996: Mainstream success Eraserheads recorded their debut album,
Ultraelectromagneticpop!, in early 1993, with some of the tracks rerecorded from
Pop-U! First released by BMG in July, the album became a commercial success, selling 300,000 copies by the end of the year. As a result, the album featured both the original and censored versions, with the latter titled “Walang Hiyang Pare Ko” (later excluded from the album's 25th anniversary remaster). The band performed at the
43rd Miss Universe pageant held at the
Philippine International Convention Center in
Pasay City in May 1994. Later in November, they held their first major concert titled "Eraserheads Jamboree" at the Folk Arts Theater (now the
Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) in
Malate, Manila. They also released their second album
Circus in the same month. Some of its tracks became classic hits for the band, such as "Kailan", "
Minsan", "
Magasin", "
Alapaap" and "
With a Smile". In July 1995, the band starred as themselves opposite
Joey de Leon in the comedy film
Run Barbi Run, also contributing to its theme song. Later in December, the band launched their third studio album
Cutterpillow through a free open-air concert. It became their fastest-selling record, earning double platinum after one week with 80,000 copies. The album featured classic hits such as "Overdrive", "Huwag Mo Nang Itanong", "Torpedo" and "
Ang Huling El Bimbo", of which a music video directed by
Auraeus Solito premiered in February 1996. After the release of
Cutterpillow, the band went on a nationwide tour to promote the album. In January 1996, the band opened for
Sonic Youth,
Foo Fighters and
Beastie Boys for
MTV Asia's Alternative Nation tour in Manila. Later in December, they released their fourth studio album
Fruitcake, a Christmas concept album with all songs written in English. Like their previous albums, it became a commercial success, earning triple platinum after a month with 120,000 copies sold. It was followed by a companion storybook released the following year.
1997–2002: Later years and break-up Going international The band started touring outside the Philippines in 1997, first performing at BMG Records' Sentosa Pop Festival in
Singapore in March. They made their American debut in May, playing several venues in
California. In September, they received the
MTV Asia's Viewer's Choice Award for the "Ang Huling El Bimbo" video at the
MTV Video Music Awards at
Radio City Music Hall in
New York City, making them the first Philippine artist to receive such a distinction. in
New York City The band released their fifth studio album
Sticker Happy in the same month. It also became a commercial success, selling 120,000 copies. The album saw the band experimenting with
techno and
experimental rock genres, incorporating a wide range of instruments and guitar effects, with Buendia writing cryptic lyrics in songs such as “
Kaliwete”, “
Spoliarium”, and “
Para sa Masa”. In February 1998, the band represented the Philippines at the Asia Live Dream '98 for
NHK in
Tokyo, Japan. They later toured the US to promote
Sticker Happy under the Happy Box production outfit. In August, the band released the compilation album
Aloha Milkyway for the Southeast Asian market, featuring five new songs including "Julie Tearjerky" and "Tamagotchi Baby" as well as select English language tracks from their previous albums. They later toured in
Singapore in September and in
Australia in April 1999 to promote the record. The band released their sixth studio album,
Natin99, in May 1999. Recorded in a nonlinear approach, the album featured significant contributions from members other than Buendia, who wrote the promotional singles "Maselang Bahaghari" and "Huwag Kang Matakot". In November, the band performed at
Dubai, United Arab Emirates with rapper
Francis M. In January 2000, the band performed with
APO Hiking Society at
Nescafé's Open Up Party at
Bonifacio Global City. They later toured the US between May and June 2000, playing venues in New York,
Chicago, and California. The band released their seventh and final studio album
Carbon Stereoxide in March 2001. In an interview, Adoro revealed that Buendia sent a cryptic text message to his band members that “it’s graduation time”, referring to him being a year ahead of them at UP. Buendia later recalled in a podcast interview in 2021: “We had a very, very good working relationship. It’s just that I don’t like it when people say that it was the wrong way to go, ‘yung dynamics within the band.” The remaining three members later debuted with new vocalist, Kris Gorra-Dancel of Fatal Posporos, at
Hard Rock Manila in April. Naming themselves “EHeads”, they released a promotional EP titled
Please Transpose in August which featured the single “U Make Me”, of which a music video was directed by
Marie Jamora. Adoro left the band in November, and the rest of the band recruited Ebe Dancel of
Sugarfree and Diego Mapa of Monsterbot and renamed the band
Cambio, ending the Eraserheads.
2003–2007: After the break-up The band received the Hall of Fame award at the
NU Rock Awards X in November 2003. Buendia, who also performed at the awards show with his band
the Mongols, accepted the award. In May 2004, Adoro (as Surfernando) jammed with Zabala and Marasigan at the Millennia Club in UP. In 2005, the first Eraserheads tribute album
Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads was released. “I don’t have a problem with that,” Buendia reacted to the release. “I just feel it’s not yet the right time to do such tribute because I’m still doing something worthwhile.” He appears in the album through Francis M.’s re-recording of “Superproxy” titled “Superproxy 2K6”. In February 2007, the essay anthology book,
Tikman ang Langit: An Anthology on the Eraserheads, was launched at
Makati with acoustic performances from Cambio and Adoro's band Markus Highway, marking the first time members of the Eraserheads performed together since their break-up. Buendia was not able to attend due to a meeting with his heart surgeon. In July 2007, the band were listed as performers with
Teeth,
Rivermaya, and
Parokya ni Edgar for a live show at the Saguijo Bar in Makati. However, Buendia and Adoro did not show up as they had separate engagements.
2008–present: Reunions 2008–2009: The Reunion Concert and The Final Set In July 2008, the band confirmed they would reunite for a concert at the
CCP Open Grounds on August 30. Initially sponsored by
Philip Morris, the company later backed out after facing criminal charges by the
Philippine Department of Health (DOH) for violating the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 prohibiting tobacco companies from sponsoring artistic events; they had also promised a free but invitation-only show for adults and smokers. The concert was later sponsored by Radiohead Productions with tickets being sold and the venue moved to the
Bonifacio Global City Open Grounds in
Taguig. The band went ahead with the reunion concert as planned, with Jazz Nicolas of
Itchyworms joining in as session musician. However, it was cut short due to Buendia being rushed to
Makati Medical Center after experiencing chest pains. The remaining band members went to Saguijo and played what would have been the second set of the concert, with Ebe Dancel on vocals. Buendia later recovered after an
angioplasty. The concert was later released as a
live album in November, with an
accompanying concert film also released in theaters. In January 2009, the band announced a second reunion concert to be produced by
MTV Philippines. Called The Final Set, the sold-out concert was held at the
SM Mall of Asia concert grounds in
Pasay City on March 7, with an estimated 100,000 people in attendance. The band also paid tribute to Francis M., who had died of
leukemia the previous day and was slated to be a guest performer. In February 2009, the band received the
MYX Magna Award, which was accepted by Marasigan.
2010s: International tours, Sabado/1995 The band embarked on a North American reunion tour in 2012, playing venues in California,
Jersey City, and
Toronto. They also performed in Dubai on two separate occasions, as well as Singapore in 2013 and
London in April 2014. In 2012,
Star Music released the second Eraserheads tribute album as a soundtrack to the
Star Cinema film
The Reunion, titled
The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album. In September 2014, the band released two new songs, “
Sabado” and “
1995”, as part of the September issue of
Esquire magazine. They also held a surprise performance at the magazine issue's launch party in Makati. In June 2016, the band reunited for a live performance at a rebranding launch event of
PLDT and its subsidiary
Smart Communications. They also appeared in a promotional campaign by Smart. A musical adaptation of the band's discography titled
Ang Huling El Bimbo premiered in July 2018 at
Resorts World Manila. Buendia approved of the musical: “I love the way they stitched all those songs together into one solid musical," he said. Buendia's record label
Offshore Music reissued the band's first three albums, which were remastered by
Bernie Grundman. They were later released on vinyl. Meanwhile, Marasigan, Zabala, and Adoro formed the band Ultracombo in 2019. Adoro left the band shortly after.
2022-present: Huling El Bimbo world tour, Combo on the Run documentary, Electric Fun Music Festival In 2020, Noisemakers released a third Eraserheads tribute album,
Pop Machine the Album, featuring covers by
Lola Amour,
Oh, Flamingo!, and
Reese Lansangan. In September 2022, the band announced a third reunion concert in the Philippines. Titled “Huling El Bimbo”, the reunion concert was held at the
SMDC Festival Grounds in
Parañaque City on December 22, 2022, with an estimated 75,000 people in attendance. The band played the album
Cutterpillow in its entirety for the first set, saving “Ang Huling El Bimbo” for the last set while also performing with guest performers such as
Gary Valenciano and a
hologram of Francis M. The concert was later released as a
live album to streaming services in March 2024. The band embarked on a world tour from 2023 to 2025, playing venues in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Dubai, Qatar, New Zealand, and Australia. Some of the concerts featured guest musicians like
True Faith lead vocalist Medwin Marfil, former
Rivermaya guitarist
Perf de Castro,
Kamikazee lead vocalist Jay Contreras, and
Moonstar88 lead vocalist and guitarist Maysh Baay. In November 2022, the band was honored as Artists of the Year by Esquire Philippines. They also returned to UP to receive the Gawad Oblation award in August 2024. Additionally, they headlined the
UAAP Season 87 opening ceremony in September 2024 and made a surprise appearance at the UP Sunken Garden to celebrate the university's championship teams three months later. A documentary titled
Eraserheads: Combo on the Run premiered in Philippine cinemas in March 2025, which tells the story of the band leading up to their 2022 reunion. The band also announced the Electric Fun Music Festival, to be held at SMDC Festival Grounds in first quarter of 2026, and teased new music at the end of the documentary, which was later announced as "Get This Love Thing Down", an unreleased song from the
Carbon Stereoxide sessions. Commenting on the announcements in a press conference, Buendia declared that the band is "here to stay." Meanwhile, Adoro briefly left the band to address newly unveiled allegations of sexual abuse against him. == Band members ==