Shilpa Ray

[5] Ray is notable for combining an Indian harmonium with a "big-voiced blues-rock howler" vocal approach and has been known to sing in styles ranging from metal to the balladry of Leonard Cohen.

[10] Beat the Devil's cover of Suicide's song "Mr. Ray" was released as part of the Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series.

Recorded with Black Dirt Studios’ Jason Meagher at Seizure's Palace in Gowanus, Brooklyn, the songs on this album are dark, sardonic looks inside Ray's own world and obsessions, augmented by the musical styling of her Happy Hookers – Nick Hundley on bass, Andrew Bailey on guitar and John Adamski on drums and percussion, and featuring Greg Lewis on organ, Jonathan Lam on pedal steel and Andrew Hoepfner on vocals and keys.

A report in the San Francisco Examiner describes Ray's New Jersey upbringing as an Indian American from an immigrant family as contributing to her having a "scrappy" demeanor.

[16] As a youth, she claims she was mistaken for an Iraqi during the Persian Gulf War and was "pelted with beer cans" by racist hooligans at the age of 5.

[17] While a student at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South,[citation needed] she became a stealth goth and listened to music by punk rock bands such as the Cramps, the Stooges, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Velvet Underground.

[16] She has also cited influences including Ministry, Billy Idol, Pat Benatar and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).

[18] In her twenties, she moved to New York City and worked as a solo artist, singing a cappella at first and later accompanying herself on the harmonium,[4] which also happened to be Nico's instrument of choice to suit her distinct voice and delivery.