Ray Childish, who began her ascent to musical notoriety in January 2007, obtained the first part of her name from a Brazilian nun operating a Christian hostel in Vienna, Austria, where she resided during her studies of musicology; the latter half derives from her most prominent character trait. There are some that believe she is, in fact, the illegitimate Austrian child of Billy Childish, but this is a view commonly held by the uninformed and pre-enlightened. There are others that say she was spewed forth from a breed of harpsichord (an endangered creature found in Europe, sustaining itself primarily on Bach compositions), forming her being of nothing but wire and sheet music, though this particular philosophy is held only by madmen and the writer of this bio.

Childish's innovative style has been described as many things, commonly "cabaret", coupled with any number of pre- or postfixes usually applied to music, yet she maintains that, although she is cabaret at heart and soul, her only true musical influence was found long before her current incarnation in Fiona Apple; soon after in the alternative rock band the White Stripes.

Casting aside the established precepts of cabaret, her music boldly integrates elements associated with the metal genre and Balkan compositions, all of which amalgamate around her distinctive vocal style, one that finds itself delving into the Broadway tradition of belting while also encompassing a broad range of techniques rooted in emotionally heightened speech.

Though the sole architect behind all of her compositions, Ray Childish is also accompanied by the drummer Philipp Reisinger and guitarist/keyboard player Knob Twister, both live and in the studio. She has recently released her debut single, "The Corpse Bride", featuring cover art by talented (after an effectively stiffled rebellion and various torture methods, the author was forced to call himself thus) Californian artist Aaron M. Henry, with whom Childish will be collaborating in the future.