These roaches are flying all the way to Austin, Texas, for the South by South West (SXSW) Music Festival, one of the largest annual roundups of the music world.
Flying Ipis, an all-girl punk rock band, is the only Filipino band to make it to the SXSW roster this year, and only the third band since indie rock group Taken By Cars in 2012 and electronic rock duo Turbo Goth in 2014.
The rock quartet, comprised of Deng Garcia (lead vocals), Ymi Sy (guitar), Tanya Singh (bass) and Gaki Azurin (drums), took on a cheeky name, Flying Ipis (roaches), playfully suggesting that everyone gets on their feet when it comes out. The girls hope that the recall on the household pest will help turn them into a household name.
The months leading to summer mean a string of festivals in the country, with GoodVybes Music Festival happening on Feb. 20, Malasimbo Island Festival on March 3, Wanderland Festival on March 5 and Summer Siren Festival on April 8.
While many foreign acts such as Bon Iver, Death Cab for Cutie, Passion Pit, Stars, Chvrches and others are coming for gigs in the Philippines, Flying Ipis is headed to SXSW for the indie equivalent of a weeklong US tour on March 11-20.
“It’s a huge break when a Filipino band represents the country in the international scene. We don’t get to do that often—and it’s not for lack of talent—because there are a lot of great bands here,” says Deng.
That’s also why most of the international gigs are self-initiated, says Deng. In the case of Flying Ipis, the group applied and was chosen from among the thousands of bands who signed up in SXSW, a yearly music, film and digital art festival that attracts up to 85,000 registrants from 85 countries.
Flying Ipis has been on the music circuit since April 2009, regularly playing their own takes and covers of rock songs. It wasn’t long before they debuted their own brand of music in the local circuit with “The Flying EP” in the same year.
Former angsty grrrl band
It’s hard to reconcile that this loud, angsty grrrl band was originally formed in the halls of an all-girl Catholic high school in 1995. When Deng, Gaki and former bassist Iris Jumao-as were asked to play during their high school reunion, the get-together proved their chemistry onstage was still intact despite leading separate lives in college.
So, they got back together and took the plunge.
In need of a new guitarist, they held an audition and found Ymi Sy, whose riffs echo that from the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, The Kills and Gossip. In time, Iris had to leave and was replaced by bassist Tanya Singh, who used to go behind the scenes as talent promoter before playing onstage with then bands Pancheta and Your Imaginary Friends.
The strong contrast of rock played by otherwise quiet girls is hard to miss. Early on, they won NU 107’s “In The Raw Award” in 2010; and Favorite Live Act Band, Best Song and Best Recording in the 2015 Jack Daniels On Stage Awards.
The band has also opened for international acts such as Metric, Japandroids and Kimbra. They have become crowd-drawers for local rock fests and festivals, notably the Oktoberfest, Fête de la Musique and the Jack Daniels Indie Fest.
Their songs also continue to top in radio rankings, peaking on Jam 88.3’s “Weekly Countdown” segment and featured in the first all-OPM release on vinyl record, “Fresh Filter.”
Flying Ipis joined LockedDown Entertainment, where they released their first full-length album, “Give Ipis A Chance,” in 2013. The album included crowd favorites, “Sssikreto” and “Past is Past, B*tch!” while “This Song Is About You” was part of the soundtrack for the award-winning Cinemalaya film “Ang Nawawala.”
Ambassadors of reading
The garage punk rock girls may have preferred genres to play, but their fans reveal a rather diverse following. While they are endorsers of the lifestyle clothing brand Team Manila, they are also ambassadors of reading for the National Book Development Board. The girls were also featured in “Tibok ng Utak” by graphic artist Manix Abrera, while their “Give Ipis A Chance” album design by Team Manila was a bronze winner in the 2014 Adobo Awards.
The girls, who started with heavy metal covers, have found their voice and are on a roll for their second album, “The Roach Motel,” to be released this year. Deng says they already have seven songs on the lineup and a few bonus tracks on the way.
Deng, who stands as the ringleader of the band, writes most of the songs, while Ymi, Gaki and Tanya take turns interpreting it until they agree to its final note. They meet on weekends at Gaki’s home studio, dubbed the Roach Den.
“Most of the songs turn out very different from the raw material,” says Gaki, “but everyone contributes.”
Listening to the first album gives away the theme, including how real heartbreaks sound: loud, harsh but offering wisdom between the lines.
“The first album was somehow angry,” Deng says. “The new one is moody, more like grunge rock.”
“We try to experiment. Maybe our personal tastes also show in our work,” adds Ymi.
The same can be said of their high-energy performances. The girls build up long intros like a wall of noise that they themselves break after every song, with the ruckus of their own creation.
The road to SXSW was paved with challenges. As indie musicians, the girls lead double lives, working day jobs without halting their love for music. Deng is a filmmaker, Gaki is a fitness trainer, Ymi works as an IT developer, and Tanya is a business manager for a tech firm.
“It takes a lot of sleepless nights—a lot of vitamins—to do what we love to do,” shares Deng.
The band is setting up a three-part fundraising campaign to help them land in Texas. They will play at B-Side Makati on Feb. 24 and conclude with a send-off party on March 4 at Saguijo, Makati. They also accept pledges in exchange for freebies at www.artisteconnect.com/projects/flight-of-the-roaches-to-sxsw.
