Flight of the Roaches to SxSW

We are an all-girl, indie garage punk band from the tiny islands of the Philippines.

[flightoftheroaches]

Podcasts from Tag91.1fm Dubai

http://tag911.ae/bandanghaponunplugged-flyingipis/

Thank you Dj Louie!!!

[flightoftheroaches]

DXB Day 2:

Buffet breakfast! Woohoo! And sweet hotel rooms!

The pinoys at the hotel are sooooo pleasant ville.  This is what we’ve noticed from flight of the roaches. That Pinoy’s abroad are sweet like candy to our souls.

10am-ish  We get picked up to go to “Studio City”. Lol. It’s pretty cool how they clump up industries in areas. Like, all radio stations are in “Studio City”. Media things are in “Media City”, Sports things in “Sports City”.  It’s a Saturday, which in Dubai is the Equivalent of Sunday. Their work week is from Sunday to Thursday.  Traffic is none existent at that time.  We meet DJ Louie, she is super.  Apparently… she was the one who suggested Ipis to breaktrough, and we are very grateful. Group Hug DJ Louie

...Soundcheck 3pm.

[flightoftheroaches]

Hello Dubai!

After that Cebu Pac thing… where we got cebu Fcked. Ugh… I’m not over the incident yet, and it hasn’t been resolved. Plus that glazed chicken you serve on board is the blandest meal ever! EVER!!!  Your brownie makes up for that tasteless meal tho. I could rant more, but no.  This ain’t a nega vibe blog. 

On the brighter side of life…

DAY 1 DXB:

We land in the UAE. It’s a first for everyone in the band. Excited much?  Yes!!! Our first glance of actual people wearing the dishdash. (that white thing the men wear)  It’s 11:30pm UAE time, and that be like 4:30am in manila! So are just about to wake up again. But we are tired as fuck.  The line in immigrations is so long. Not a surprise, considering this is the busiest airport in the world! We get out in an hour, which is still fast and effective, considering the massive line.  Immigrations, done. We walk out… no idea, what’s in store, and WOW!  The best welcoming group ever!!!  The folks at breakthrough were about the friendliest people we’ve met.  And their Pinoy friends, from Tamabay Jam (youtube)  helped pick us up from the airport.  What a way to start the DXB gig.

 We get to our hotel. They have 2 rooms for us at the Majestic Hotel, which is right on top of the venue. Convienient much? Roomies @flyingymi and @gaki_girl. Roomies @denguedeng and @oiris (@Tanya wasn’t able to go with us because she’s off to Spain. Happy Trip Tan-yeah) and Thank you Iris for playing with us again.

Checked in the rooms… and get this… WE HAVE UNLI ROOM SERVICE!!! Like what!?!??! Breakthrough, we have nothing but love for you!!!  So the we order a biryani and a tomato soup and a coke (always coca-cola). Radio interview tomorrow with DJ Louie… so, gnight. Zzzzzzzzzzz

[flightoftheroaches]

This is what happened with @CebuPacificAir yesterday:

Deng tried to check in online, logged in,  pressed continue after inputing our names and details, and then was directed to a payments page that had P2,000 in balance. She was like, why would we have a balance, it's all been paid for. I was just gonna check in online! So i pressed "back" button and the page directed me to the reserve seats page. And it was P2,000 worth. So i was thinking, oh maybe this is where cebupac got the extra 2k. So i removed the reserved seats and pressed continue. It then directed me to the payments page again. And the 2k was still there. So i did the same thing again. And when the 2k balance would get erased, i just gave up and cancelled- I closed the page and didnt get to check in.

So... being a customer, what would you think happened?  That’s nothing happened right? NO CONFIRMATION. NO NOTICE. Transaction did not push through.

We get to the airport, thankfully we went early, because we were not able to check in on-line.  Line up like a bunch of good roachies. :) Happy Happy Joy Joy! We’re going to Dubai! We get to the counter and the unhelpful unfriendly ground staff said... you altered something on your booking, you have to pay for it.  Like, what?!?!?!?!?! Pay for what?! So... Deng tells him what happened.

Apparently, the process i did online appeared on their marvelous system and now we have to pay the P2,000 or else we couldnt fly. BECAUSE IT's "IN THEIR SYSTEM" and "wala na silang magagawa" daw about it. 

This is their explanation -- since it was done in a confirmed booking, whatever change you do online, is your fault and responsibility REGARDLESS of any check out confirmation. So like, because i tried to figure out why we had a 2k balance and tried to remove the seats, just by pressing the "continue" button, you are liable for the extra fees AUTOMATICALLY. This again had NO confirmation or safety prompts from the website whatsoever. Bayad na agad. Pay because IT'S IN THE SYSTEM.

[flightoftheroaches]

Filipina all-girl punk rock quartet on cheeky names and their rising cult status

GULFNEWS.COM 

[flightoftheroaches]

The Flight of The Roaches continues.................. 

[flightoftheroaches]

IPISODE_6 - Flight of the Roaches USA SXSW

Here's a quick run through of that super mega awesome US Tour, which ended at SXSW2016. MNL-TPE-SFO-LA-AUS. 7 Gigs in 10 days. Tiring, but worth all the fun ...

Check check check it out! IPISODE 6 is all about our SXSW trip. \m/

[flightoftheroaches]

Hopping from one gate to another... Some, more comfortable than the others. What do do in Taiwan??? The airport was pretty cool.

[flightoftheroaches]

9 Hours in Taiwan!

(not by choice, but because these were the cheapest tickets available) #TheStruggleisReal

Our trip back home from SXSW, AUS-SF-TPE-MNL took more than 25 hours.  The SF-TPE-MNL leg was already 25 hours. Of the 25 hours was a 9 hour layover at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.  9 hours... cool, we get to see another country, right? Possible, except we land at 6am and nothing is open.  Oh, and they are happy to announce that we landed 30 mins early. haha! Having to be back at the airport at 2pm, we’re like... lets leave at 10pm, go to one site and then gun back to the airport.

So we head over to our the airline office, they can issue you a VISA (provided you have a US VISA) in 5 mins! And free of charge! Whoopie!!! However, you will have to go through security check again. Ok. Not a problem. However, you will have to pay airport fees again. Noooooooo. Airport fees + über fee = nevermind. Boo Boo Land. :(

Luckily, the Taoyuan International Airport is fantastic! One of the most interesting airports.  Every single boarding lounge is different!!! How cool is that? (We have gifs in most of them, coming soon)  And for a good 6 hours @flyingymi and @gaki_girl went around the whole airport.  All 3 terminals! 

[flightoftheroaches]

Mazda was giving out free rides! 

How could we not sign up?  Plus you get to make these silly gif things while in the car. Why the hell not? 

Fun SXSW facts:

Parking - $15-$30 ....WTF!!!!!!!

BCycle - $8 for 24 hours

Pedicab (if you’re not lucky to get a free driver) - $20-30

Free rides saved us a helluva lot! Just sign up at the mazda booth, and they have a certain distance, but some drivers are kind enough to extend. (Many thanks to the lovely lady driver who took us right to our pad)

Cheers!

[flightoftheroaches]

Flying Ipis @ Swan Dive, SXSW 2016, Best of SXSW Live, HQ

Manila band Flying Ipis perform at Swan Dive, SXSW 2016, Austin Texas, 03/19/2016, Live HQ (help with song title appreciated) Check out This Song Is Not Abou...

You know that 12 noon gig we had??? ... This was it... 12 noon!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzz

[flightoftheroaches]

吳建恆KEN. 104,422 likes · 1,598 talking about this. 吳建恆(Ken Wu) MTV 我愛偶像主持人 2015大好人韓國趴趴走旅遊書 中國廣播電台-娛樂e世代（DJ) 克勞斯咖啡店(Cross Cafe) 克勞蒂杯子蛋糕(CLOUDY CUPCAKE)...

We met a few guys from Taiwan. Thanks for the shout out! 

[flightoftheroaches]

Showskii Records on Instagram: “All girl punk band. Watching them the second time this week because they're just that good! @flyingipisband from Manila, Philippines 🤘😊…”

“All girl punk band. Watching them the second time this week because they're just that good! @flyingipisband from Manila, Philippines 🤘😊 #sxsw”

Check this Miami blogger’s stuff out! Thank you @showskii for the live videos, mentions, hang-outs and mostly for giving our music a chance. \m/

http://www.showskii.com <------ CHECK IT OUT!

[flightoftheroaches]

Damn! That was a sweet gig!

Still on a high from the reception of the crowd at BD Riley’s. Next official SXSW gig was at Lucilles’s at 1am.  But... since bands here bring about their own gear, we had to rent and pick up the stuff. Organise with the other bands so we don’t have to pay an arm and a leg.  Thank you to the bands who offered to share the cost. No thanks to the selfish fcks. :)

We are so spoiled in the Philippines, and i miss it!!! hahahah.  Although, it is fun feeling like a legit touring band in our mommy van.  Next time, we get a big full sized E150 or something like it.

We get to Lucille’s. It’s a lovely house looking type bar, with picket fences, which by night is a super cool bar.  The band set up is in the backyard, and it’s freezing!!!  12 degrees is too cold for my pinoy ass!  We stand by the heater or at the inside bar.  Watching bands from the inside, or drinking alcohol to warm up.  Probably the first gig where we played in jackets and pants. lol.

We take the stage (small platform), set up (like a legit touring US band), sound check with Jorel (he taught us how to sound check properly, Thank you Jorel)... and we play.  Spotted 1 Pinoy guy in the crowd.  Lets see how it goes...

We got the crowd! and they Loved it! 

There was dancing and cheers and some jumping.  We were the last band that night, and the good vibes continued till we went for our 2am tacos.  We ended our SXSW experience on a high note ( +drum solo ) 

[flightoftheroaches]

SXSW Official Gig @ BD Riley’s

We’ve been walking down 6th Street ALOT!  Finally, it was our turn to play BD Riley’s.  We get a message from SXSW that certain outdoor venues were cancelled because there was a storm... what storm??? Really? It was only drizzling and the wind couldn’t even mess up my heavily waxed hair.  The alert also said the storm would be done by 9:30, and that was call time.  All of a sudden, the weather went from wearing shorts, to leather jackets.

Loaded up our gear through the back door in a dark alley. Felt legit. lol. SXSW has staff to help you carry. Official volunteers were very helpful. But we still miss our roadie. Hopefully, we can bring him along next time.

Waited for our turn. Got up on their stage. Set Up. Sound Check. Rock Out.

How did we do? Well, people got up on their feet.  There was dancing, cheering, and loads of good words from others. And not just... “Nice set”... but like... Im gonna take you girls to Sweden... When you plan your European tour. Fuck yeah! Please! (Hoping the guy wasn’t drunk)

Thanks for the drinks L!!! And nice meeting you Pinoy’s who just showed up, even if we were already done playing. 

[flightoftheroaches]

Hello Asia! & K’s Choice

1:30pm Interview with Hello Asia!

http://www.helloasia.com.au 

Our first official SXSW gig is later in the evening. We’re stoked, and sleepy. However, we get a twitter alert saying K’s Choice is playing at 4pm. Omg 90′s! We walk to  Soho Bar on 6th Street...small intimate gig with the Belgian Band. Selfies and small talk by the bar. Happy Roachies!

[flightoftheroaches]

Bloc Party and The Kills

Rested and Ready for another night.  That’s what you do here ya’ll! You make the most of that wrist band.  A platinum pass to SXSW cost $1700? and the Music pass is $700.  How can we not bleed this for all its got? :)

We stop by the YouTube lounge, because we chanced upon it. And shamelessly played our videos on the TVs. Lol. But because our stuff is linked to a lot of other #OPM bands, it’s just went through all the suggested bands from our YouTube page. So... we saw some Sandwich, Slow Hello, BP and a lot more. 2 rounds of free drinks worth.

Then it’s a 16 min walk to catch Bloc Party and the kills, so we take them B-Cycle Bikes.

... We get to Rainey Street.  Another happening area for SXSW. A bar called Bangers. Hard to keep track of the bars we go to coz we’ve been to so many. There is a long line, and even out wristbands can’t get us in.  They are giving priority to those who paid shit loads for the platinum badges. Sigh.  But still... it was close enough, and we heard the whole set, from behind the fence.  And we weren't about to give up our space in the line, because The Kills were up next.

And just as we thought, people would be leaving after Bloc Party... maybe 50 folks came out of the bar, and the allowed us to enter. Woot woot!!!  Front row to the Kills was well worth the wait.  Maybe 3 rows back. But whatever, it was epic and sexy.  Eargasmic!  They closed the show and we had to get home. The so awesome B-Cycle Bikes I keep talking about, ran out of bikes in the nearest stop.  That’s coz other people think it’s so awesome as well. Dammit!!! We’re tired, but on a high. So we walk...

Walking, Walking... 2am... Taco Truck. Über.