The line "Anong pake mo, sa long hair ko?" has been shouted at karaoke nights, covered by reggae bands, and played on guitars by kids who weren't even born when it came out.
But who were the guys behind it? How old were they? Did they really only have one hit? And whatever happened to them?
This is the everything-in-one-place guide to Weedd, the Quezon City band that turned a school-hair grievance into one of the most recognizable songs of the Pinoy rock era.
Weedd at a Glance
Weedd was a Filipino band of teenage friends who signed with Universal Records, scored an unforgettable hit with "Long Hair" in 1995, and then quietly came apart when college arrived. That's the short version. The longer version is about a boy nicknamed Oinky, and honestly, it's a lot sadder than the song ever let on.
- Members:
- Aldwin "Oinky" Panganiban: vocals
- Philippe "Ipe" Arriola: bass
- EJ Delgado: guitar
- Paul Garcia: guitar
- Jay Valera: drums
- Sound: Psychedelic and alternative rock, with a reggae-styled hit
- Formed: 1993, by one music database's account, when Oinky was just 13
- Label: Universal Records
- Debut album: Self-titled, 1995
- Best-known songs: "Long Hair" and "Bobo Joe"
- Influences: The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Beatles
- Status: Disbanded after the members went to college
A Boy Named Oinky: Where the Weedd Story Begins
Every band story starts somewhere, and this one starts with a kid and a microphone. Aldwin Panganiban, who everyone called Oinky, began singing in contests while he was still in elementary school. Not just at home in front of a mirror, but on real stages, in front of real judges and real crowds.
If you grew up in the Philippines, you can picture the scene: the school gym or barangay hall, a rented sound system, parents holding up phones or camcorders, and one small performer trying very hard to look brave. For most kids, a singing contest is a phase. For Oinky, it was the first chapter of everything that came after.
Hold on to that image, because it matters later. Oinky didn't stumble into music by accident, and he wasn't chasing fame for its own sake. He simply loved performing and wanted to be in front of people. That's the heart of this whole story, and it's exactly what makes the ending hurt.
EJ Delgado and the Friends Who Became a Band
Oinky didn't walk into music alone. One of the people closest to him was EJ Delgado, a guitarist and a genuinely close friend. Before there was a record deal, a manager, or a single TV appearance, there were just two friends who liked making noise together.
Oinky was only 13 when Weedd got started. Then came high school. That's where Oinky and EJ met the other members who would round out the lineup. Nobody sat down and drew up a business plan.
It was the most natural way a band has ever formed: a group of friends, the same school hallways, the same music playing on the same stereos.
This detail is worth underlining. Weedd began as friendship first and band second. The people who would later make the big decisions around them were operating on a very different logic, and that gap is where the sadness in this story lives.
The full lineup: Oinky on vocals, Philippe "Ipe" Arriola on bass, EJ Delgado and Paul Garcia on guitar, and Jay Valera on drums.
Their favorite bands were The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and The Beatles, three acts that taught generations of teenagers how a guitar, a drum kit, and a restless voice can say what a kid can't say out loud.
At school events and battle of the bands competitions, Oinky and his friends played songs by those bands.
Anyone who has been through the Philippine school-event circuit knows what that means: a stage that's a little too small, a crowd of classmates, and a set list made of songs everyone knows. Covers are how most young bands learn to hold a room, and Weedd learned it early.
Oinky's Father and the Night Everything Changed
Here's the part of the story that is, at first, purely sweet. Oinky told his father about his band. And his father wasn't just any dad. He was an underground rocker himself, someone who understood exactly what it meant to love loud music and to want other people to hear it.
He didn't just nod along. He invited Oinky's band to perform at his band's event. In the audience were wealthy Filipino-Chinese businessmen, people with real connections to major record labels.
Think about what that moment looked like from the inside. A father opening a door for his son. A teenage band getting a chance most bands never get. Nobody in that room could have known that the door would lead somewhere that would cost the band so much. It was an act of love, and it was also the first step toward the end.
Signing with Universal Records: The Next Eraserheads?
The performance led to an introduction to the people at Universal Records, one of the Philippines' major labels. At the time, teenage bands were rare in the mainstream, and that rarity worked in Weedd's favor. The label's owners didn't hesitate.
They saw something they believed could sell: a band of kids, young and fresh, who might be the next Eraserheads, the group that had come to define Pinoy rock in the 90s.
Read that again, because it holds both the dream and the trap. Weedd was signed partly because they were teenagers. Their youth was the pitch. It's the same thing that would later work against them.
"Long Hair" — The Song Everyone Knows
Let's talk about the hit. A 1995 report called "Long Hair" a humorous reggae rant against the conformist ideas that still held sway in a conservative country. That's a pretty accurate description.
The song is a defiant, singalong complaint about being pressured to cut your hair, with a chorus built to be shouted back at whoever is policing your haircut.
It struck a nerve because so many Filipino kids in the 90s knew exactly what it was about. Another fan blogger called it the anthem for every kid whose hair was butchered by the school guidance counselor, and that description rings true for a lot of people.
Here's why it's lasted:
- It's easy to play. Chord sites list a simple, repeating progression, which is part of why it's all over YouTube as guitar, bass and drum tutorials.
- It's universally relatable. Anyone who's been told to look "decent" gets it.
- It's endlessly coverable. Search for it and you'll find reggae covers, one-man-band versions, drum covers, and a version by Dong Abay.
Overnight Fame: Gigs, TV Guestings, and Unfathomable Success
What happened next moved faster than any of them could handle. By the time Oinky and his pals were around 16 or 17, they were nationwide sensations. Weedd's success came so quickly that Oinky and his teenage friends barely had time to process it.
One moment they were a school band. The next, they were a signed act with a self-titled album on Universal Records, and "Long Hair?" was out in the world in 1995.
The gigs piled up. The TV guestings piled up. Eventually the list of appearances grew into something they couldn't count. If you were a teenager in the mid-90s, this is the dream you'd have written on the back of a notebook.
And that's the problem with going too fast. You don't get to feel it. You just get carried.
When Being Teenagers Became the Downfall
Here's where the story turns. The same thing that got Weedd through the door, being teenagers, became the element of their downfall.
All Oinky and his friends wanted was to perform. To be on stage, in front of a crowd, doing the one thing they'd loved since the contest days. But they were kids, and in the machinery of a major-label career, kids don't get to steer.
Their parents and their managers made the decisions for them, people who, by this account, didn't truly understand the artistry behind being in a famous band.
You don't need villains for this to hurt. A band of teenagers handed to adults who see a product instead of a craft is a very old story, and it rarely ends well. The music was theirs. The choices weren't.
Imagine being sixteen or seventeen, living your biggest dream, and realizing you have almost no say in how it unfolds. That's not a rock star story. That's a quiet kind of loss, happening in real time, under bright lights.
College, Drifting Apart, and the End of Weedd
Then college arrived, and with it the ordinary pull of growing up. The friends who had shared school hallways, battle of the bands stages, and a record deal began to drift away from each other.
The way the story is told, there was no explosive fight, no smashed guitar, no dramatic last concert. There was just distance, the slow kind that opens between people who are suddenly on different paths. Eventually, Weedd dissolved.
That's what makes it so tragic. Bands usually end with a bang or at least a reason. This one ended the way many teenage friendships do, quietly, with everyone older than they'd been the year before. They had been a band, a family of friends, and a national name. Then they weren't.
Weed’s Discography
Weedd (1995): The Debut Album
The self-titled debut came out in 1995 on Universal Records, on both CD and cassette. It was produced by Ito Rapadas, the original vocalist of Neocolours.
A contemporary news item from August 1995 reported that the album was selling well, hitting 20,000 units in its first month, backed by TV appearances and live shows in shopping malls. That's a solid start for a debut by a band whose oldest member was 17.
Basketball (1997): The Second and Final Album
Two years later, Weedd released Basketball, again on Universal Records. Sputnikmusic notes it was acclaimed as well, but the band faded not long after.
But there's a counterpoint. The underground scene praised both albums, the debut reportedly moved 20,000 copies in its first month, and songs beyond the hit still rank among fan favorites on Rate Your Music. "One-hit wonder" describes the radio legacy. It doesn't fully describe the band.
Weedd FAQ: Quick Answers
Who is the lead singer of Weedd? Aldwin "Oinky" Panganiban.
What is Weedd's most famous song? "Long Hair?", popularized in 1995 from the band's self-titled album on Universal Records.
What genre is Weedd? Their signature hit is a reggae-styled song, and the band is also described as psychedelic and alternative rock.
Who are the members of Weedd? Aldwin "Oinky" Panganiban (vocals), Philippe "Ipe" Arriola (bass), EJ Delgado (guitar), Paul Garcia (guitar), and Jay Valera (drums).
When was Weedd formed? One music database dates the band to 1993. Oinky was just 13 at the time.
Why did Weedd break up? As the story goes, the members drifted apart once they reached college, and the band dissolved. Their teenage years and the decisions made for them by parents and managers are central to why it ended the way it did.
Are "Weedd," "The Weedd," and "Weed" the same band? Yes. They're different spellings of the same Filipino band.
Is Oinky still performing? SunStar reports he is no longer active in recording, but sometimes performs acoustic performances at small bars.
Thoughts to Ponder: What Remains of Oinky’s Band
In recent interviews, Oinky said he now lives in Hongkong as a pastry businessman along with his wife. He still performs solo occasionally, but only as a cover artist who rarely performs his monster hit “Long Hair.”
Weedd never became Eraserheads or Parokya ni Edgar, and that's fine. They did something rarer: they wrote a song that belongs to everyone who ever had to argue with a barber, a principal or a parent about their hair.
For a band that formed in 1993 and was gone by the end of the
decade, that's a long shadow.
Go give both albums a full listen.
And if you were there, I'd love to hear your memory of it..
If you're an OPM fan, revisit "Long Hair" with all of this in mind. It sounds different when you know the boy behind it, the friends beside him, and how fast it all slipped away.
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