KICKING GIANT: bio

The indie-rock duo Kicking Giant was comprised of singer/guitarist Tae Won Yu and drummer Rachel Carns. They first teamed while both were attending art school in New York City in 1989. For the next 5 years they played together, Yu on vocals and guitar and Carns on drums. They began playing shows in and around New York City, never playing the same show or song twice. They slowly started recording tracks onto cassette using Yu’s 4-track machine. The tapes began circulating internationally in the underground fanzine network and a cult following began. After making pen pals with musicians in Northwest, the duo learned about the Riot Girl movement. In the summer of 1991 Kicking Giant played K Records International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia with bands like Bikini Kill, Beat Happening, Fugazi, L7, Unwound, and Jad Fair. The energy of the northwest punk scene was infectious, and both members were ready to leave New York. Around 1994 both members of Kicking Giant found themselves in Olympia, WA releasing their full length album Alien I.D. as well as the She’s Real 7” as part of the International Pop Underground series, both on K Records. The year previous they released Halo on Loose Leaf. Kicking Giant has not released anything since 1994 but both members have moved on to other projects such as The Need, King Cobra, Cloud Eye Control, and others.