Death Ray Robin — the Alt-R&B project of Columbia vocalist Desirée Richardson — performs the song that opened the 2023 SceneSC Sampler in our latest installment in the “I Love My Friends” session.

Desirée first came to know Aaron Graves through Fork & Spoon potlucks and Those Lavender Whales shows. “I knew Aaron to be an inviting, encouraging person who did his thing,” she writes. “I loved being asked to shake my palm-palm branches at TLW shows. It all felt like an open invitation to be part of a loving community.” She remembers being impressed that Aaron and Jessica Bornick would regularly invite musicians — even near strangers — into their home. It was commonplace for them.

Long before Hunter-Gatherer became a music venue in her life, it was where Desirée ate lunch during a difficult summer at USC after retaking music theory courses. “Would you believe that the first time I ever had black beans and rice was at Hunter-Gatherer at 19 years old?” she writes. That weekly ritual later gave way to memories of shows, conversations, and artistic validation through Fork & Spoon Records.

“Sun for Everyone” reflects that influence. The song wrestles with comparison and self-worth, and Desirée writes, “I’d love to be someone like Aaron, who shared his and his friends’ art, without the worry of that kind of thing. He made what was true to him, and it was good.”

You can catch Death Ray Robin live at First Thursday on Thursday, March 5, at the Arcade Mall in Columbia’s Main Street District.