Raimund Marasigan

Being at a young age and having such family interest, Raimund Emmanuel Parcon Marasigan began to like every genre of music he hears everyday he goes. He started to like music when he was 6, and he loved to turn on the radio just to enjoy the sound of art travelling into his ears. Because of his likeness and interest in music, he pushed through in learning to play different musical instruments even though he is studying. Together with his academic lessons, he also created songs of his own with basis from what he hears and thinks from his experiences, ideas and fascinations. As he continued to create amazing compositions and melodies, he thought of joining bands to apply what he has acquired from his lessons and his practices. He always finds a way to find a group because he can play any instrument a band needs to start up. Raimund joined a band from his high school days as a pianist but the group eventually disbanded due to time conflicts and study priorities. As he entered the University of the Philippines in 1988, he started to search for a new band. There he met Buddy Zabala and Marcus Adoro, and they formed a band named Curfew in 1989. Raimund was not contented with only one band so he searched again for another group. He was accepted as a sideline drummer in Sunday School and met Ely Buendia as the vocalist and guitarist of the same group. As he continued to play with his bands, he expected to face the consequences and challenges in the future because of putting his band playing as his top priority rather than studying seriously in his major field in UP.

One day, he saw Ely’s announcement around UP that he is in search of a new band so he signed up as a bassist. He didn’t expected that the three persons he knew from two separate bands will be together as one. As they met up in a studio, he was surprised because he will play together with the people he knew that can play very well, and assumed that their band will last long. In one of their practices, they noticed that their music was not good between Buddy and Raimund. The group decided for them to switch instruments, making Buddy as the bassist and Raimund as the drummer, and the rest was history. Raimund and the rest of the Eraserheads faced many challenges especially when no record industry wants to seal a deal for their music. His professor-friend helped them re-record and mixed better versions of their music, and they called the album “Pop-U!” They were given a three-year record deal by Sony BMG in 1992. In July 1993, his band started to record another album, their debut album, entitled “Ultraelectromagneticpop!” which contained many chart-topping songs composed by Raimund especially “Toyang” and “Ligaya”. He proposed to come up with another album that describes their lives after their smashing debut. Four songs in “Circus” became successive hits like “Alapaap” and “Magasin”; both of which are Marasigan’s compositions. The “Cutterpillow” album was released and turned gold before it even hit the record stores. The song “Ang Huling El Bimbo”, another composition of Raimund, was the very memorable song not only for the band but also for their fans because it topped the charts for three months. Also, with the music video, the song was picked “MTV Asia Viewer’s Choice” awardee. They received many awards for several albums, songs and music videos. Raimund was proud of it, thinking that he will not attain this dream if he didn’t pursue what he wants to do in his life. As Raimund continued to play for the band, he felt relief and joy for he has accomplished his dreams and successes that he never felt was coming.

After weeks of speculations and allegations, Eraserheads disbanded in 2002 because Ely left the band for unknown reasons. Raimund continued to play for the band and he introduced a new frontliner for a new band named “EHeads”. The band changed their name to “Cambio”, after Marcus Adoro left the group and two new members joined the same group. While the Eraserheads was famous before, Raimund made the band “Sandwich” which is famous for their songs with statements and symbolisms like “Sugod”, “Betamax” and “Manila”. He also joined Pedicab and Project1, and both bands became famous in the music world for its good songs and melodies. He also received several awards as a member of his groups for his performances, compositions, and music videos. Aside from singing and playing instruments, he is also a record producer for bands like Squid 9 and Sun Valley Crew, avoice actor in an animated series entitled “BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad”, a TV host on Myx and MTV Philippines, and a product endorser like in Coca-Cola, where he composed the song for the commercial.

Raimund Marasigan, with the breadth of his projects, is named one of the well-respected mainstays of the Filipino rock band scene as of today. After he started with the Eraserheads, he has produced more than a hundred songs and earned millions for his works of art. He also made many bands appear in the industry and helped them reach stardom. He continues to write songs for his bands and trains people who want to be a music icon. Despite having lots of works and gigs everyday, he never forgets his wife and children, who needs him for support and guidance towards happiness; his friends, who are always at his side to cheer whenever he has events and recordings; his mentors, who taught him more about his interests; and his fans, who never endingly support him as a great musician of all-time. Raimund Marasigan is a person who looks back from where he started, never thinks to work for himself, never forgets those who made his career possible, shares his talents with the people who aspire to be one like him someday, and thank God for he lived not only to play whatever he likes but also to make every person’s day.