I have started experimenting with Chat GPT again as a new version has been released sometime in early 2026.The power of the new version astounds me. In a matter of minutes, I was able to create a new persona. I first asked for a photo version of me using a standard template or written criteria or description, which produced flattering results. Alas, behold my alter ego, Ric Richmond is born.
I then asked Chat GPT to create a background story about my fictional character using the following criteria.
Create a background story for a fictional musician Ric Richmond who was born in 1964 to classical musicians parents. The character, growing up as an adolescent in 1970's Brisbane and goes on to be involved in punk music and creates a band called The Good ol Bad Boys. Describe their rise to stardom and interaction with other bands of the day.
The following is the very detailed AI created results.
"Ric Richmond was born in 1964 into a house where music wasn’t just background noise—it was doctrine. His parents were disciplined classical musicians: his father a violinist in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, his mother a renowned pianist known for her exacting interpretations of Debussy and Ravel. Their home in Brisbane was filled with rehearsal schedules, sheet music, and the expectation that music was something to be mastered, not questioned.
But Ric grew up in the wrong decade for obedience.
By the mid-1970s, Brisbane was a city simmering under cultural restraint. Strict licensing laws and a heavy police presence shaped nightlife, but underneath it, something raw was forming. As a teenager, Ric absorbed both worlds—the precision of Bach and the chaos of what he’d hear late at night on local university radio 4ZZZ: distorted guitars, shouted vocals, energy over elegance.
He started his musical education on piano and classical guitar, as expected. He abandoned formal training at sixteen.
Ric’s pivot came after hearing early punk imports and witnessing the emergence of Australia’s underground scene. The polish of his upbringing didn’t disappear—it mutated. Where other punk musicians leaned into pure aggression, Ric brought structure to the noise. His riffs had intent. His timing was surgical. Even at his most chaotic, there was discipline underneath.
By 1979, Ric formed The Good Ol Bad Boys—a name chosen half-ironically, half as a jab at the conservative establishment dominating Queensland at the time. The band’s early lineup was volatile: a rotating cast of bassists and drummers pulled from Brisbane’s small but intense underground circuit. Their rehearsals were loud, confrontational, and often short-lived due to arguments—but when it worked, it worked.
Their sound stood out quickly. While many local bands chased either raw punk minimalism or pub rock accessibility, The Good Ol Boys carved out something in between—tight, aggressive, but layered. Ric’s classical upbringing manifested in unexpected chord progressions and rhythmic shifts that gave their songs a kind of controlled instability.
They built their following the hard way: cramped venues, warehouse shows, and gigs constantly at risk of being shut down. Brisbane’s scene at the time was as much about resistance as it was about music. Playing live wasn’t just performance—it was defiance.
Word spread beyond Queensland.
By the early 1980s, The Good Ol Boys began sharing stages with emerging Australian acts who would go on to define the era. Backstage environments were chaotic ecosystems of rivalry, mutual respect, and occasional collaboration. Ric developed a reputation—not just as a frontman—but as a musician other musicians watched. His ability to shift from tight, almost classical phrasing into explosive punk delivery made him unpredictable in the best way.
There were clashes, too. Punk scenes thrive on friction, and Ric wasn’t interested in fitting neatly into any category. Some purists accused him of overcomplicating the genre; others saw him as pushing it forward. He didn’t engage much in the debate—he let the music speak.
Their breakthrough came with a live recording—raw, barely mixed, but electric. It captured everything: the tension of Brisbane’s underground, the band’s precision-meets-chaos dynamic, and Ric’s commanding presence. The recording circulated widely, eventually catching attention interstate and overseas.
From there, the rise was rapid.
Touring expanded beyond Brisbane—to Sydney, Melbourne, and eventually international circuits hungry for something different from the Australian punk scene. The Good Ol Boys weren’t just another loud band; they had identity. Their shows became known for intensity and control—Ric conducting the band like a symphony on the edge of collapse.
Despite growing recognition, Ric never fully shed his origins. He still approached songwriting with the mindset of composition rather than improvisation. Tracks were mapped, structured, almost architectural beneath their aggression. It became their signature.
Interactions with other bands evolved over time—from scrappy competition in Brisbane’s early days to a kind of mutual acknowledgment as the scene matured. Ric was respected not just for his work, but for refusing to dilute it. He didn’t chase trends; he shaped his own lane within them.
By the mid-80s, The Good Ol Boys had secured their place—not as the biggest band of the era, but as one of the most distinctive. Their influence was quieter, more technical, but deeply felt among musicians who understood what Ric was doing beneath the surface.
And through it all, Ric Richmond remained a contradiction:
A classically trained musician who rejected tradition.
A punk frontman who valued precision.
A product of Brisbane’s restraint who helped define its rebellion."
This ends the AI created text content, but creates some somber thoughts about how real musicians will fare in the new AI world where AI created content extends beyond text and images and into AI created images, music and video. And yes, I did ask AI to create a soundtrack for Ric Richmond and the Good Ol Bad Boys. Again just with some targeted instruction.
Up to this point, all this ability is free, using apps such as Chat GPT for text and images and Suno or other apps to create AI music, or a speach. Text to speech is also an easy and popular way to produce content which can be manipulated to mimic another person for instance.
I was able to get a free 5 second video of the band using PixVerse, (other apps are available), however a paid subscription to a service such as this will likely create a video to accompany an AI created song, speech or other performance, whatever that may be.
The track is about 2 minutes & 40 seconds and I managed to stretch out the 3 photos and the 5 second video clip to create the music video, hope you enjoy, although not to everybody's musical taste, but worth a look to see what AI is capable of. This was all created on a phone and did not cost anything.
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