Black Soul

The Rise of a Virtual Band

The advent of AI music tools has been controversial. To some it represents a threat to a cherished art form that has been at the core of human existence for millennia. To others it unlocks new forms of creativity, creates opportunities one could only have dreamed of a few years ago. Whatever we may think of it, there is no denying that AI enhanced music is on the rise.

But is all AI music created equal? As with all things human, it comes in many graduations. From entirely AI generated junk food to carefully crafted works of art that mix the best of human creativity with the power of AI to provide those elements that would otherwise be out of reach for a small artist.

‘Black Soul’ falls firmly in this last category. In an exclusive interview Felicia Black talks about the past, present and future of her new virtual band.

How did the new band come to be?

‘Black Soul’ formed in August 2025. I had been experimenting with producing music for about a year and a half before that, working in other music genres and with other collaborators/bands. I was trying to express myself by taking my writing, poems and lyrics and turning them into music to share. There are so many amazing tools available today to make that possible, and they are getting better all the time. But, I was never completely satisfied.

Then after lots of trial and error, learning and practice, it all seemed to come together for me. My husband Aspect turned me on to lots of new music and we found our sound together. ‘Black Soul’ was born!

We started working on producing ‘Black Soul’ music – creating a whole album of songs.

I was uploading the tunes to SoundCloud and sharing the music with the world. I received some nice reactions that were encouraging. I also shared some of the music with people in 3DX and a few were following my progress. Then one day KirbyBliss from ‘Abnormal Rock Club’ and I were chatting and she asked if I’d like to do a show of my music at their club. Wow! Now I had a date and suddenly needed a band!

Who among my friends should I ask? I thought long and hard on it. I finally decided I only wanted guys in my band. Women seem to be involved in everything in 3DXChat – bands, dance groups, models, escorts, etc. They seem to have all the advantages, even better clothing! What do the guys get? It was a conscious decision to ask the men in my life. ‘Black Soul’ would be a band of brothers and a sister.

Aspect, my wonderful husband and music guru, is on lead guitar. SmirkyPhoenix, one of my oldest and dearest friends, is our drummer. Hikikomori, a close friend I have shared The Black Rose with for years, is on bass and keyboards. DaveDD, another long-time colleague from the classical orchestra, is our rhythm guitarist.

I love these guys. I could not do it without them. There is no one else I’d rather share this with than this group. They ARE ‘Black Soul’.

How would you describe the style of music your band brings?

The ‘Black Soul’ style is a rock band with nu metal and heavy metal influences. But there’s a little bit of everything. Aspect is the person most responsible for our band’s sound. He’s the one who turned me on to all this style. He sent me about 50 songs to listen to and study when I started making our music.

I remember asking him, ‘Can you send me some female artists?’ And he gave me a few, but there really wasn’t as many. So I thought, ‘Oh! Here’s an opportunity to do something a little bit different.’ So I try to write what I know – about life and love and sex and everything. From my experience and a female perspective. Sometimes with a 3DX twist. I want it to be original and fun. I also want our music and my coffee to be hot, black and bitter, just like my soul.

I could say more about our band’s music and ‘vision’, but that would sound pretentious and like a load of crap. If you want to know about ‘Black Soul’ listen to the music, that’s our story. It may not be your cup of tea, but it’s our double shot of whiskey! We’re serious about making great music and sharing it. We’re serious about sharing great fun with our friends and loved ones in 3DX. We’re also serious about not taking ourselves too seriously. People often forget this is supposed to be fun!

You already achieved some success streaming on Soundcloud and Spotify?

Our song ‘The Machine’ just passed over 13K streams. The song has been featured on SoundCloud’s ‘Buzzing Metal’ and ‘Heavy Metal Workout’ playlists. Other songs have done well too. But, we just got on Spotify, so time will tell how that goes.

Honestly, it’s really nothing in the bigger picture. But, I’m humbled and grateful for anyone and everyone who enjoys something we made. It always amazes me. I have no illusions about this being anything other than just a fun little side gig for us to share together. Anything else is just dessert. We do this for us and anyone who wants to share. We do it for fun.

Your band made an amazing video. Can you tell us a little about its creation?

Our drummer SmirkyPhoenix is the genius behind that video! He did such a great job editing and directing that. We wanted to do a music video, so we chose our namesake song, and the title track from our first album ‘Black Soul’.’

The first thing we did was gathered the band together and filmed some video and still photography of us performing on stage. I then converted many of those photos into video using an AI tool. Then Smirky gathered all the video clips we had and used his video editor to splice them all together. Finding the right mix of scenes and cuts, and stitching them all together along with the music and lyrics was a tremendous amount of work on his part. We left a lot on the cutting room floor too. It took us more than 14 hours all told just to put a 3 minute video together. One gets an idea why Hollywood budgets are so huge!

Smirky did an outstanding job, and he probably knows the song ‘Black Soul’ better than I do now.

Where do you see the band going in the future, your hopes for it?

Who knows what the future might bring? But we’re going to keep going, we’re going to keep making music and sharing it, as long as we’re having fun and people want to listen. ‘Black Soul’ is currently ‘on tour’ in 3DXChat at various clubs so come check us out! We’re working on our next album. We’ll probably do another music video, along with a few other special surprises this year – stay tuned! 2026 is going to be very exciting! Sex, drugs and rock & roll baby!

Can you give us a little insight into your creative process?

Every song starts as an inspiration or idea. We take something that moves us and express it through music. I write almost all the lyrics to our songs. I write every day. I’ve been writing poetry and prose my whole life. Published some in real life too, but it’s funny – I’ve had many more people hear my words in a song than have ever read any of my poems in some journal or book.

Once a song starts taking shape, then we use whatever works best for that particular song. We use various AI software, some live recordings, Band-In-A-Box real music, and a variety of other music software tools to make, mix, master and produce the recordings. Use everything but the kitchen sink to make music! It’s amazing what one can do now with the tools available, and it’s getting better literally every day. It’s difficult to say where the songs come from … I like to think they are born in the heart and soul, in feelings and lived experiences – both from real and virtual life.

For example: One song comes from memories of my little sister and I sharing a mattress when we were little girls … another tune Aspect wrote and I remixed it … one song started out just with me moaning and groaning into a microphone … there’s a quote from Dante’s ‘Inferno’ in one tune as inspiration … some are full of anger and heartbreak, love and sex … one is even a cover of a 19th century American negro slave song … and some of the songs are made just for fun! It isn’t always easy turning an idea into music, but it’s fun!

It takes some magic and voodoo and blessings from the creative spirits. Lots of whiskey, champagne and cigars help along the way too!

Are there any closing words you’d like to add ?

I would just like to thank all our friends and supporters. I am humbled and extremely grateful that people have enjoyed our little creations. It’s amazing! And I can’t say it enough – I love the guys in ‘Black Soul’. There is no one else I’d rather share this with then them.

Most of all I’d like to thank Aspect – without his love, support and inspiration I could not do any of this. Keep on rocking baby!

‘Black Soul’ stands out as a prime example of what can be achieved when talent and technology meet in the right mix. It brings us hope that the advent of AI powered tools can lead us to an exciting new chapter in the long history of the creative arts. A chapter where individuals and small groups of friends can achieve truly stunning results. Far from being the death of music, the AI revolution might in fact be the ultimate democratization of it.

With Special Thanks to Felicia Black