вЂњIt definitely inspired a lot of trying to make songs that sounded like what walking around there felt like,вЂќ he says.

Meanwhile, he was вЂњgoing to hang out in the woods every day.вЂќ His time among the trees gave him new ideas for music projects. вЂњI spent a whole three months of fall pretending I was in college so my parents wouldnвЂ™t freak out,вЂќ Ray says. Next he worked a string of odd jobs till he tried school again at University of Maryland Baltimore County in the fall of 2012. In 2009, he dropped out of SUNY Purchase after one semester.

Ray might say that being in a lot of bands tops going to college-something he hasnвЂ™t yet found a taste for. These days heвЂ™s mostly focused on lo-fi pop outfit Julia Brown, recently reunited punk group Teen Suicide, and Ricky Eat Acid, which he transformed into a live act with the help of Orchid Tapes co-honcho Warren Hildebrand (who also performs as Foxes in Fiction). It can be tough to keep track of all of his projects. Three Love Songs is Ricky Eat AcidвЂ™s debut album, but itвЂ™s hardly RayвЂ™s first release under that name, or others for that matter. вЂњIвЂ™m constantly being like, вЂMy life is absurd,'вЂќ says Ray, 22. ItвЂ™s all a major change from a couple of years ago, when RayвЂ™s various bands were kicking off six-band bills at house shows. Dough delivery guy performs one of his biggest local shows yet: a slot at Black Cat opening for his tourmate, buzzy Canadian R&B artist Jessy Lanza. Those wouldnвЂ™t be astonishing numbers for a bigger artist, of course-but for Ricky Eat Acid, a young Maryland resident named Sam Ray, it must have felt more validating than delivering calzones ever did.

In less than 48 hours, Orchid Tapes sold out all 250 LPs and 100 cassette versions of the album. On January 3, the tiny Brooklyn label Orchid Tapes started taking preorders for its first vinyl release: Three Love Songs, the debut full-length from an experimental electronic artist called Ricky Eat Acid.

Teen suicide band sam ray