Amanda Black was born in Pittsboro, North Carolina, US. She holds an MA in Translation from the University of Malaga in Andalusia, Spain. She holds a BA in Studio Art (Painting) and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She spent her fourth year of BA studies at the University of Guanajuato, in Guanajuato, Mexico. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specializes in sound studies, popular music, and Latin American studies.