Domino (singer)

Early life

Lally Buendia was born on October 4, 1980, she is sister of Ely Buendia (lead vocalist/guitarist) of ex-Eraserheads, Pupil and The Oktaves, I remember back in college (circa 2006 – 2006), I was desperately seeking for Domino’s album. My friend’s ex-boyfriend had it but unfortunately, he couldn’t find it anymore thus, I resorted to downloading the album from somewhere in cyberspace (at least I’m disclosing this ;) ) Domino released their debut album entitled “Fair Tales” through Viva Records circa 2003 but it was a short release. I think I was in Pinoy rock hiatus at sometime during my college life that’s why I wasn’t able to buy this album. Sadness.

It was during the benefit gig in Capone’s last April 28 when I first saw Lally Buendia perform with her band. Not really sure of the current line up is, all I know is that Lally Buendia is Domino. Her brother, Ely Buendia, also performed with her onstage. Ely let her sister shine, no pa-star effect. He’s just at the background playing the synths. At least I was a bit familiar with their songs, they performed “Cat Eyes”, “Provocatrice” and a new song which was French. Not really sure what the title was I guess it’ll be included in the new album.

Music career

She did release an album of her own in 2003, to obviously less than stellar results. But that kind of setback has not discouraged the sister of rock icon Ely Buendia to give it another go.

She used the stage name Domino back then, but the 32-year-old Lally Buendia is upbeat about her chances of reaching a wider audience this time around. She has signed with MCA Music, a major label she hopes will push her new album aggressively. She blames bad promotions as one of the reasons her debut album "Fair Tales" did not seep into public consciousness.

Lally recently inked her new MCA recording contract on the same day the label also signed up her brother's band, Pupil. It will be recalled that Pupil was briefly without a record label when Sony Music Philippines, the band's previous label, closed shop earlier this year.

'Fresh electro pop sound'

For her first outing with MCA, Lally is working on an album featuring her compositions which insiders describe as "deep songwriting wrapped in a fresh electro pop sound."

"I'm really excited about my upcoming album. We're now doing the mixing and we'll put it out definitely this year," she added.

She says her music is the result of her "pouring my heart out and taking elements from my childhood." She named Madonna and the 10,000 Maniacs as two of her top musical influences.

The Ely influence

Asked about Ely's influence on her, she said, "He's a huge presence in my life. He taught me how to play guitar and then it goes beyond from that."

Lally appeared on the experimental album "Fruitcake," released by Ely's former group, The Eraserheads, at the height of the band's success in 1996.

Asked to describe herself, Lally says, "I'm not much of a talker and I'm shy about being treated as a celebrity."

But it's something that goes with the territory…and being the sister of one of the best songwriters Pinoy pop has ever produced. Her struggle as an artist in her own right is interesting and it remains to be seen whether her new album will—pardon the reference—erase all that baggage by association.

Websites