Na-disband ang Eraserheads noong 2002 matapos magdesisyon si Ely na magsolo makalipas ang 13 taon ng pagiging vocalist ng banda.
At sa loob ng mahigit isang dekada, hindi itinago ng singer at composer ang katotohanan hindi talaga siya naging close sa mga kasamahan niya sa Eheads na sina Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro at Raimund Marasigan.
Para sa lahat ng mga nagtatanong tungkol sa hit single noon ng Eraserheads na “Minsan”, sinabi ni Ely na hindi ito tungkol sa kanyang dating band mates, kundi sa iba niyang mga katropa.
Nagsalita ang former Eraserheads frontman sa Spotify podcast “Wake Up with Jim & Saab” tungkol dito nang isa-isahin ng musician couple na sina Jim Bacarro and Saab Magalona ang mga classic hits ng iconic OPM band.
At nang mapag-usapan nga ang kantang “Minsan” (mula sa Circus album ng Eheads, 1994) dito na nagpakatotoo si Ely, “It’s one of those songs, there are some songs, when you mature as a songwriter, you hear lyrics na medyo cringe-worthy. It’s not a specific line, but the whole sentimentality of it.”
Paliwanag niya, “Baka I can explain why I feel that way. May pinanggagalingan ‘yun, e.
“It’s about fans, I was kind of sick of fans saying, when the Eheads broke up, ‘You’re friends, you shouldn’t have (broken) up. You made us feel bad.’ I was sick of that. I think everything points to that song. That’s what they reference all the time.”
Pagpapatuloy pa ni Ely, “What fans didn’t know, what the public didn’t know is we were never. Okay, I don’t want to break any hearts again.
“We were never close, we were never friends, as in tight friends. That’s why we broke up. We weren’t Itchyworms, we weren’t Parokya ni Edgar,” sey pa ni Ely.
Pero ipinagdiinan niya na napakaganda ng pinagsamahan nila bilang banda, “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.”
Kasunod nito, nilinaw din niya ang tunay na pinanggalingan ng kanta nilang “Minsan” na ang pagkakaalam ng fans ay tungkol sa history ng kanilang banda na nabuo umano sa Kalayaan Residence Hall sa University of the Philippine Diliman noong college pa sila.
“That song is actually about my actual friends, the friends that were with me during my stay at Kalayaan. It wasn’t about the Eraserheads, it was about my friends,” ani Ely.
At dahil nga rito, kaliwa’t kanang pamba-bash ang inabot ng singer mula sa mga fans ng Eraserheads. Kung anu-anong masasakit na salita ang ibinato nila sa OPM icon.
Matapang naman silang sinagot ni Ely ng, “Big deal, still? Why hate on people who want to tell the truth? I didn’t ask to be interviewed, nanahimik na nga ko dito eh living a happy life kayo yung makulit about the eheads.
“The music is all that matters, have you forgotten about that, and who wrote most of it? Just sayin,” pahayag pa ng dating Eraserheads frontman.