Rachel Carns (born August 13, 1969) is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

living in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Raised in small-town

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, she went on to study

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she completed her B.F.A. in 1991. Carns began her career as drummer for Kicking Giant, later collaborating with several bands, including

The Need The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s. After issuing a series of seven-inches on labels including Kill Rock Stars and Outpunk, The Need re ...

. She is a celebrated

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, working under the name System Lux, and plays

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and percussion with experimental performance art group Cloud Eye Control.

Kicking Giant

Carns' first band was Kicking Giant with fellow Cooper Union student Tae Won Yu, with whom she played drums and sang from 1990–1995. Their first show was in the storefront window of a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

junk shop; Carns stood up and played just one

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

, a

floor tom A floor tom or low tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. However, they can also be attached to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp, or supported by a rim mount. It is a cylindrical drum without snare ...

. Kicking Giant played around

and the northeast with bands like

Codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

, Uncle Wiggly, and fellow "love-rockers" Sleepyhead; Carns continued to expand her stand-up kit, building around the central floor tom, anchor to Yu's whirling

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and bedrock of their unique sound. Live, their largely

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

mash of

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

, sugar-candy pop, and pure

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

meant that Kicking Giant never played the same set, or even the same song, twice. Photographer

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-da ...

filmed some live Kicking Giant shows; Carns later appeared in his film ''

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

'' (1992) along with

Taylor Mead Taylor Mead (December 31, 1924 – May 8, 2013) was an American writer, actor and performer. Mead appeared in several of Andy Warhol's underground films filmed at Warhol's The Factory, Factory, including ''Tarzan and Jane Regained... Sort of ...

Zohra Lampert Zohra Lampert is an American actress, who has had roles on stage, film and television. She performed under her then-married name of Zohra Alton early in her career. Among her performances were as the title character in the 1971 cult horror film ...

, and ''Chemical Imbalance'' magazine's Mike McGonigal. While in New York, Kicking Giant recorded songs on Yu's 4-track and released a number of homemade cassettes (including songs recorded with Kramer); circulating bootlegs soon garnered the band a fierce cult following, particularly in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Through the underground

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

network, Yu became penpals with

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

and members of

Bratmobile Bratmobile was an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, active from 1991 to 2003, and known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, ...

, trading tapes and letters and zines and introducing the band to

Riot Grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

, a movement that merged

Do It Yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

culture and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. In the summer of 1991 Kicking Giant played the

International Pop Underground Convention The International Pop Underground Convention (or IPU) was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington. The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater. Throughout August 20–25, ...

in Olympia with bands like

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

Beat Happening Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi mo ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

, L7,

Unwound Unwound is an American post-hardcore band. The band was formed in 1988 in Tumwater, Washington, Tumwater and Olympia, Washington by vocalist/guitartist Justin Trosper, bassist Vern Rumsey and drummer Brandt Sandeno, and was largely based in Olym ...

, and

Jad Fair Jad Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the lo-fi ...

. The energy of the northwest punk scene was infectious, and both members were ready to leave New York; the duo parted ways temporarily in 1992 when Yu moved to Olympia and Carns to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In DC, Carns briefly joined

Slant 6 Slant 6 was an American punk rock trio based in Washington, D.C. affiliated with early riot grrrl. Slant 6 consisted of Christina Billotte (electric guitar and vocals), Myra Power (electric bass guitar and vocals), and Marge Marshall (drum s ...

as drummer; in fall 1992 they toured the US with

The Nation of Ulysses The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kron ...

, including a stopover in Olympia. She recorded only one song with the band ("Alien Movie Star") before moving to Olympia to rejoin Yu and Kicking Giant. During the next three years she also performed and recorded with Sue P. Fox, The Fakes, The Pet Stains, and in the notorious three-drummer line-up of Witchypoo. In the meantime, Kicking Giant released another full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

and toured the west coast with Sue P. Fox, Tattle Tale, and

Nikki McClure Nikki McClure is a papercut artist based in Olympia, Washington. She is the author and illustrator of a number of children's books and produces an annual calendar. Biography McClure grew up in Kirkland, Washington. She moved to Olympia in 198 ...

, the east coast with Versus, and later with

Team Dresch Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT p ...

and the Free to Fight tour. Around this time, Carns was interviewed for ''

She's Real, Worse Than Queer Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997). Life and work Thane ...

'', a seminal documentary film about the mid-1990s

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

punk subculture. She was also filmed by

G. B. Jones G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematica ...

for a new film, ''The Lollipop Generation'', released April 3, 2008.

The Need

In 1995, Carns moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

to play keyboards with the all-queer all-girl CeBe Barnes Band. Pioneers in the next wave of

Queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...

, they toured the west coast with

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

, playing the Santa Barbara Girls Convention. After the band's demise in 1996, Carns continued playing drums and keyboards with CeBe singer and future filmmaker

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

and guitarist Shannon Tragedy (later known as

Radio Sloan Radio Sloan is a musician from Olympia, Washington. She is best known as a guitarist for The Need, the band she formed with Rachel Carns; her other bands include Ce Be Barns Band, The Circuit Side, Fact or Fiction, Grandpa's Ghost Stories; and ...

); they named the new line-up

. They toured down the coast to play the Dirtybird Queercore Festival in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, but July soon left to pursue solo endeavors and The Need (1996–2001) continued as a duo. Carns and Sloan returned to Olympia where they joined forces with

Donna Dresch Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch. Dresch has been actively involved in the queercore scene since the 1980s, as the creator of the fanzine ''Chainsaw'' an ...

's Queercore label

Chainsaw Records Chainsaw Records is an independent record label run by Donna Dresch that is devoted to Queercore bands. The label is in Portland, Oregon. History ''Chainsaw'' began life as a zine published by Donna Dresch in the late 1980s. Musicians and write ...

. The Need's unsettling brand of

cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

ian deconstructive

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

(and Carns' distinctive artwork) both set them apart and ensured their versatility; they played shows at venues such as DUMBA with such diverse acts as Glass Candy,

Tribe 8 Tribe 8 was a LGBTQ punk rock band from San Francisco, considered one of the first queercore groups. The band took their name from the practice of tribadism, with "tribe eight" being a play on the word ''tribade'', a sexual practice sometimes ...

, and The Ex, and toured with

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...

BS 2000 BS 2000 (also known as Beat Science 2000) was an American rock music, rock and hip hop music, hip hop group formed by Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (member of Beastie Boys) and Amery Smith, Amery "AWOL" Smith (drummer for Suicidal Tendencies a ...

, and

Blonde Redhead Blonde Redhead is an American alternative rock band composed of Kazu Makino (vocals, keys/rhythm guitar) and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace (drums/keys and lead guitar/bass/keys/vocals, respectively) that formed in New York City in 1993. ...

. Joe Preston joined the band briefly, playing bass and sampler. During this period Carns played drums with The Sub-Debs and later with The Spells. Carns and Sloan both briefly joined Mocket, then Two Ton Boa. With singer

Nomy Lamm Naomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm (born September 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee." Her left foot was amputated at age three, to be fitted with a l ...

, the duo formed a highly theatrical surf-

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

drag king Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, eit ...

band called The Teenage Ho-Dads. They also dreamt up the collaborative project KaraNEEDoke, where Carns and Sloan and a rotating cast of players formed a live

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

band for guest singers. This sense of community involvement,

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

spirit, and willingness to experiment led to the creation of The Transfused, a full-length

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

, written with librettist Nomy Lamm. Twelve months in the making, with an original score by Carns and Sloan, a cast of 25, a full backing band, $40,000 in

grassroots fundraising Grassroots fundraising is a common fundraising method used by political candidates which has grown in popularity with the emergence of the Internet. It has been utilized by US presidential candidates like Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, and mo ...

, months of rehearsals, and literally hundreds of volunteers, The Transfused sold out its two-week run at Olympia's Capitol Theater in summer 2000. The first-ever

Ladyfest Ladyfest is a Community organization, community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for feminist and women artists. Individual Ladyfests differ, but usually feature a combination of band (music), bands, musical groups, performa ...

took place in Olympia a month later; Carns organized and emceed the punk cabaret-style Dude-Looks-Like-A-Lady

drag show A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women. Typically, a drag show involves performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime or dancing. There might also be so ...

. Soon after, Sloan relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

; The Need added a new bass player, Dvin Kirakosian, and for a while Carns spent alternate months in Olympia and LA. Their final album, prophetically titled The Need Is Dead, had been released in 2000; the band broke up within a year.

The King Cobra/TWIN

In the meantime, Carns collaborated with future bandmate Kwo (later known as Ghost) to write an original score for the punk

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

cabaret Dr. Frockrocket's Vivifying (Re-Animatronic) Menagerie And Medicine Show. Carns played organ and Kwo played guitar; they were joined in the pit by Jeri Lynn Beard (drums) and Nora Danielson (violin). The show, starring

Jody Bleyle Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT p ...

, Bridget Irish, Tara Jepsen, Beth Lisick,

, Inga Muscio, Beth Stinson, and Spider, toured the west coast and was featured at Boston's 2001 Out On the Edge queer theater festival. After Frockrocket, Carns returned to the drums and headset mic, and she and Ghost continued to write and perform under the name The King Cobra. One of their earliest shows was at the first-ever Homo A Go Go festival in Olympia in 2002; the duo went on to play west coast shows with bands like Young People,

The Gossip Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer Hannah ...

, and V For Vendetta. Soon after,

Tara Jane O'Neil Tara Jane O'Neil (born November 22, 1972) (surname sometimes written as "ONeil"; sometimes credited as TJO) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio recording engineer, and visual artist based out of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

joined on bass; as a trio, The King Cobra released an EP on Troubleman Unlimited, and toured the west coast with

Erase Errata Erase Errata was a band from San Francisco, California. The group favored improvisation as a compositional tool and each of their performances were a unique manifestation of established songs. History Erase Errata formed in Oakland, California ...

and

Shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...

, east coast with The Quails, and the U.S. with

Tracy + the Plastics Tracy + the Plastics is an American electropop and video project group from Olympia, Washington, United States. The members include Nikki Romanos on keyboard, Cola on drums, and Tracy as the lead vocals. Although the name implied the group was ma ...

. In 2004, TJO moved to Portland and The King Cobra became a duo once more. They self-released a 3" mini-CD and continued touring extensively, playing shows with Wikkid, The Planet The, Lezzies On X, Experimental Dental School, and

Thrones A throne is a seat of state for a potentate or dignitary. Throne or Thrones may also mean: People * Throne (surname) Arts and entertainment *The Throne (group), collaboration pseudonym for rappers Jay Z and Kanye West (as on Drake's "Pop Style") * ...

, among others. In mid-2006 The King Cobra changed their band name to TWIN.

Cloud Eye Control

In 2009, Transfused alumni

Anna Oxygen Anna Jordan Huff is an American multi-media artist, composer, producer and actress best known by her stage name Anna Oxygen. After starting her music career as a member of the Space Ballerinas, a synthpop group then based in Olympia, she reco ...

commissioned Carns and ex-bandmate Radio Sloan to compose an overture for ''Under Polaris'', a multimedia performance art piece by experimental theater group Cloud Eye Control, and eventually to join the live band, with Carns playing

electronic drums Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

doumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet- ...

, and

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

. Under Polaris sold out a five-day run at REDCAT in

, and was featured at the 2009 National Performers Network conference in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. In 2010 the show will travel to the Exit Festival in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and the Fusebox Festival in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

Magic Kombucha

In 2006, Carns began homebrewing

kombucha Kombucha (also tea mushroom, tea fungus, or Manchurian mushroom when referring to the culture; Latin name ''Medusomyces gisevii'') is a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink commonly consumed for its purported health ben ...

using Olympia's

artesian well An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

water. Friends and houseguests loved it, and in 2007 she began bottling commercially under the name Magic Kombucha, and is selling wholesale to local restaurants and stores.

Personal life

Carns is a breast cancer survivor and openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

Discography

With Kicking Giant

Singles

*She's Real 7-inch (

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music ...

, 1994)

Albums

*''Boyfriend/Girlfriend'' cassette (Loose Leaf, 1990) *''Secret Teenage Summer'' cassette (Loose Leaf, 1991] *''Present'' cassette (Loose Leaf, 1992) *''Hotbox'' cassette split w/ Long Hind Legs (Punk In My Vitamins, ''1993'') *''Halo'' cassette/CD (Spartadisc, 1993) *''Alien i.D.'' CD/LP (

, 1994)

Compilations

*''Chemical Imbalance'' magazine Vol. 2 No. 3, 7-inch flexi (1991) -- "Rapid C", "Background, Moving Quickly" *''Soluble Fish'' CD (

Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. The label was known for not paying its artists and not spending any money on promotion. History The l ...

, 1991) -- "Songbird" *''Chinny-Chin-Chin: 4 Bands from New York City'' CD (

Shimmy Disc Shimmy Disc is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1987 by Mark Kramer. Before it was sold to the Knitting Factory, artists like Bongwater, Daniel Johnston, Fly Ashtray, Galaxie 500, King Missile, Boredoms, Ruins, Ween, Gwar ...

, 1991) -- "Love Child", "House Dress", "I Don't Mind", White Babies", "That Summer Feeling", "Oh Yeah" *''Kill Rock Stars'' CD/LP (

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

, 1991) -- "Make You Come" *''

'' CD/LP (

, 1994) -- "This Sex" *''Throw'' CD/LP (

Yoyo Recordings Yoyo A Go Go, usually abbreviated to Yoyo and often typeset in various ways, was an independent music festival in Olympia, Washington, first held in 1994 and followed by successor festivals in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Five- and six-day concert marat ...

, 1992) -- "Fuck The Rules" *''Julep'' CD/LP (Yoyo Recordings, 1993) -- "Lucky" *''Yo Yo A Go Go 94'' CD/LP (Yoyo Recordings, 1994) -- "Blonde's Blonde" *''Half Cocked'' soundtrack LP (

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, 1994) -- "Satellite" *''Project Echo'' CD/LP (

, 1995) -- "She's Real" *''Ear of the Dragon'' CD (Fortune 4, 1995) -- "Live It For Yourself"

Television

Uncle Floyd Show Floyd Vivino (born October 19, 1951), also known as Uncle Floyd, is an American television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show ''The Uncle Floyd Show'' (1974–1998). Early life Vivino was born in Paterson ...

(

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

, 1997) *''Jacky O'Lantern'' 7-inch (

Outpunk Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands. The label was run out of San Francisco and began as an extension of Matt Wobensmith's fanzine, ''Outpunk''. ''Outpunk'' ran for seven issues, from ...

, 1997) *KaraNEEDoke ''Mailorder Freak Singles Club'' double 7-inch (

, 1998)

Albums

*''The Need'' s/t CD (

Chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, ...

, 1997) *''The Need with Joe Preston and DJ Zena'' 10-inch (

Up Records Up Records was a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen. Some of the label's best known artists were 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad. Chris Takino died of leukemia in 2000 ...

, 1998) *''The Need Is Dead'' (

, 2000) *''The Transfused''—The Need with Nomy Lamm CD (Yoyo Recordings, 2000)

Compilations

*''Destination'' compilation (Ross Records, 1996) -- "Sam" *''Yoyo A Go Go 97'' LP/CD (

, 1998) -- "Crown" (live) *''La Foresta Della Morte'' soundtrack CD (Toyo Records, 1999) -- "Talk Potty" *''New Women's Music Sampler'' CD (

Mr. Lady Records Mr. Lady Records (or Mr. Lady Records and Video) was a San Francisco-based lesbian- feminist independent record label and video art distributor. (Press release of a 2001 art show at the Weisman Art Museum) Artists on the label included Le Tigre ...

, 1999) -- "Girl Flavour Gum" *''Homocore Minneapolis: Live And Loud'' CD (Lefty Records, 1999) -- "Vaselina", "Crown", "Majesty" (live) *''Projector'' LP (Yoyo Recordings, 1999) -- "American Woman" *''Yoyo A Go Go 99'' LP/CD (Yoyo Recordings, 2000) -- "Dark Sally" (live) *''Group'' (motion picture soundtrack) CD (Yoyo Recordings/Wovie, 2000) -- "Mona Tinsley", "2-Story Girl" *''Charm'' (motion picture soundtrack) CD ( 5 Rue Christine, 2000) -- "Jolly Roger" *''Up Next'' CD (Up Records, 2000) -- "Talk Potty" *''The Structure of Scientific Misconceptions/The System of Scientific Misconstructions'' CD (Toyo Records, 2001) -- "Resurrection", "The Green Manalishi With The Two Pronged Crown" *''Home Alive Compilation Vol. 2: Flying Side Kick'' CD (Broken Rekids, 2001) -- "Frayed Ends Of Sanity" *''Random Slice of Life from Fort Thunder – Some Bands Who Played at'' CD (Contact Records, 2001) -- "2-Story Girl"

With The King Cobra

Singles

*''Roi!'' 3" mini CD (Yr Highness, 2004)

Albums

*''The King Cobra 8-song Punkass CD'' CD (Yr Highness, 2003) *''The King Cobra'' s/t EP (Troubleman Unlimited, 2004)

Compilations

*''Tracks And Fields'' (

, 2004) -- "This Town Ain't Big Enough"

With TWIN

*''TWIN b/w Shearing Pinx'' split c20 (Isolated Now Waves, 2006) *''TWIN b/w Mikaela's Fiend'' split 10-inch (SAF Records, 2007) *''TWIN b/w Gay Beast'' split 7-inch (Unfixed Forms + SAF Records, 2007)

With various

-- "Alien Movie Star" ''Julep'' compilation CD/LP (

, 1993) ''drums, vocals'' *Nikki and Rachel -- "No More" ''Julep'' compilation CD/LP (Yoyo Recordings, 1993) ''drums'' *Sue P. Fox: ''Light A Match, Spark A Life'' cassette (

, 1993) ''drums'' *Sue P. Fox: ''Light Matches, Spark Lives'' CD (

, 1994) ''drums'' *Sue P. Fox -- "Killing Your Clone Is Still Murder" '' Free to Fight'' CD ( Candy Ass/

, 1994) ''drums, vocals'' *''Kickstand'' s/t CD (Queenie Records, 1994) ''vocals'' *The Fakes: ''Real Fiction'' CD/LP (

, 1994) ''drums, vocals'' *CeBe Barnes Band -- "You Use Me For Fashion" b/w "She's A Winner" 7-inch (Horsekitty, 1995) *Miranda July with The Need: ''Margie Ruskie Stops Time'' 7-inch (

, 1997) ''drums'' *

: ''10 Million Hours A Mile'' CD (

, 1997) -- "How's My Driving?" ''drums'' *Sue P. Fox: ''Mailorder Freak Singles Club'' 7-inch (

, 1998) ''drums'' *Internal/External: ''Featuring...'' (

, 1998) -- "Candystriper" ''vocals'' *Mocket: ''Pro Forma'' (

, 1998) ''drums, vocals'' *The Spells (unreleased, 1999) ''drums'' *''Two Ton Boa'' s/t EP (

, 2000) -- "Have Mercy" ''drums'' *Tara Jane O'Neil: ''You Sound, Reflect'' (Quarterstick, 2004) ''piano'' *

: ''Culture For Pigeon'' (Troubleman Unlimited, 2005) ''sampled drums'' *Scream Club: ''Don't Bite Your Sister'' (Tiny Sensational, 2004) ''sampled drums''

Films

*''The Last Supper'' (dir.

, 1992) *''The Lollipop Generation'' (dir.

, 2008) *''

'' (dir.

Lucy Thane Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997). Life and work Thane ...

, 1997)

Kicking Giant

The Need

The King Cobra/TWIN

Cloud Eye Control

Magic Kombucha

Personal life

Discography

With Kicking Giant

Singles

Albums

Compilations

Television

Albums

Compilations

With The King Cobra

Singles

Albums

Compilations

With TWIN

With various

Films

References

External links