History : The Onions

I grew up in Potrero, Malabon. Sa barangay Maligaya, in a slum area where life is pretty messed up, as in magulo talaga. At an early age na witness ko na ung mga bodies na sinalvage sa canal, ung mga so called- Sparrow na bibira and just walk away na parang walang nangyari. Yung mga gang wars noon were rampant. And so were the drugs. I had to act tough too. Had to learn how to be street smart. I sometimes asked God why all this.

Buti na lang at may maaasahang mga kababata at ulirang mga magulang. Also, luckily, I studied in private schools thanks to my parents and aunties which turned out as either blessing or curse for me. I did not know how to act. Sa school i saw how rich kids dress, eat and behave. Malayo sa nakagisnan ko sa Maligaya. Sa bahay naman, i had to adjust also. Iba yung lifestyle din. Magulo ung buhay. 

But amidst all that, music became my refuge. I started in becoming interested in poetry and in literature.

I studied elementary at St. Gabriel Academy, then highschool in Notre Dame of Greater Manila (NDGM). Nag college ako sa Mapua in Intramuros,Manila taking up BS Architecture. Flunked Design subject which means i will have to add 1 year to my stay at the college since walang remedial classes para sa Design 1. 

Mahal ang tuiton sa Mapua so i opted to study BA in Business Management sa Manila Central University (MCU) in Caloocan instead. In short i needed a way out just to graduate from college to work na. We were poor. I had to help my family who was now living in Kamuning QC ( we moved in sometime back in 1999. I ♥️ Kamuning! ). 

It was in MCU that i started playing guitar, songwriting and began looking for bandmates. A then-college classmate and friend, named Wilfredo Cortel or "Tata", as he was fondly called by his lolo, who took me via jeepney cummute to Gen. T. de Leon, Valenzuela to meet a guitar "virtuoso" he knew named Sansari or Sari del Rosario. " Magaling yun p're!" 

Turned out that Sari or Savoy along with his friends/bandmates were all "help" in a small store owned by a guy named papa "Jun", where they assist in the store maintenance and selling. They get to stay-in in the house/shop too. After work, at night we drank beer or local rum and jammed guitars and i played them my compositions. We really dig the folkies like Bread, Lobo, etc. Also love Oasis, Blur, Bee Gees, Led Zep and ofcourse The Beatles.

So from QC to Valenzuela, mostly weekends andun ako kena Sab. Di ko matandaan if nagpunta sila samen noon sa QC although i'm sure nagpunta kami sa childhood friend/guitar mate ko na si Kuya Judy Son na erpats ng kababata/friend ko na si Andy or Ando. We would jam there and sing the blues.

I have fond memories sa bahay ni papa Jun. Ilang beses na nagsuka at napatrobol din ako sa lugar nila, pero cge lang enjoy! Rock n roll eh. Me and Savoy got along pretty well since he too had a few original songs in the can. We tried to imitate our heroes, The Beatles and Oasis. But more specifically we tried to be a Lennon & McCartney duo. Berones/Del Rosario. Not bad sounding!

One of Savoy's early ditty was a song called "Come", a psychedelic lullabye rocker. Mine were Oasis-inspired songs like "Bad as i wanna be" which is a song about a bad boy actor Robin Padilla, also inspired by Liam Gallagher of Oasis, plus "Above the skies", a philosophical song about death and dreams. Also "Come Ride with Me", an invitation to be wherever you want to be, whatever you want to be and essentially, having freedom to do what you want. I also wrote "Waterfall" a latin music inspired song, which we played at a Battle of the Bands and won as best original composition for the first and only battle of the bands gig that we joined in. 

As a duo, Savoy and I wrote "Hey Little Boy" about a kid runaway which is all too familiar plot in slums.

Here is a crooked sounding recording of Waterfall.

Here are some of the sample home recordings that we jammed that i wrote:

Bad as I Wanna Be (Recorded circa 2012)

Come Ride with Me (Recorded circa 2012)

And Savoy's :

Come (Celfone recording circa 2016, sa baba ng bahay namin )
 

The Onions, with Savoy's brother, Kelly del Rosario

Also covers:

If I Needed Someone (Lennon/McCartney) circa 2016 . Celfone recording circa 2016, sa baba ng bahay namin din to. 

I started a Joke (R.M.&B Gibb)  Again, celfone recording circa 2016, sa baba ng bahay namin din to. This was sung by our bassist Eric Libre who was already intoxicated by then.

Every weekend i go to their place to jam I loved it! We knew we were onto something! Di kami magaling pero atleast may nabubuo na kaming song arrangements pra sa mga kanta ko at ni Sab. It was the birth of The Elastic Onions, the eventually was shortened to The Onions. For a moment rock en roll seems to be all there is. Rock and Roll is life. And we dig it man!

The Onions is: 

Edgar Berones on vocals, tambourines, synth, ukelele, recorders and rhythm guitar. Sari de Rosario on lead guitar, 12 string electric, acoustic guitars and vocals, Marcos on rhythm guitar2, Eric Libre on bass, drums and back vocals, plus my classmate, Ericson who played drums and keyboard. Later William Raymundo joined in as rhythm guitarist and doing vocals as well.

We rehearsed every saturdays in Valenzuela, in a band rehearsal studio there. Dala-dala ko pa noon yung Aiwa cassette player-recorder ko noon which looks like this: 

Rain or shine dala ko sha. Tuwing may new songs ako na jinam namin ng Onions at nirecord using my portable radio, ung playback was heavenly sound na para saming lahat. Kahit tunog lata. It was cool and it was alright! I kept the tapes to this day. 

The Onions reunion in 2019 at my house.