A heated debate on Facebook forced Luzelle Avenant, singer, guitarist and songwriter, to pen a song one night about the power of words and the question of whether there is still any honesty and love in society, and especially on social media. find is
The result is a comical, yet honest song, titled “Fakebook Funk (Waar is die liefde?)”, which can currently be heard on all major music streaming platforms.
“I realized that it doesn’t help to try to reason or debate with people on social media,” says Luzelle.
That’s why her second verse reads: “The Internet makes you brash and then we simply become uncivilized.”
“Fakebook Funk” is the first song she releases under her birth name. She previously performed under the stage name “Ruby Jane”, but says that she no longer identifies with it and has instead embraced her own name.
She describes her music as “folk-rock”, but believes she is not afraid to merge genres or break the rules. With Karen Zoid and local singing group, Freshlyground, as two of her biggest inspirations, none of her songs sound the same.
When she’s not making music for herself, this 30-year-old helps train the next generation of musicians as full-time music teachers.
She currently specializes in electric guitar, but also coaches acoustic and bass guitar at Pinehurst Primary School in Pinelands and the School Of Rock in Claremont, Cape Town. Furthermore, she offers individual lessons and also leads three orchestras.
“There I have the opportunity to see how children and adults make their dreams come true to live out their passion on stage with other musicians at our quarterly concerts.”
She and her husband, the musician Paul Avenant, live with their three cats in Woodstock, Cape Town. Paul and his friends, brothers Roelof and Theunis van der Merwe, form part of the multi-instrumental folk-rock group, Van der Aven.
The couple met as students and got married in 2019. Today Paul plays drums for Van der Aven, the group “The Betsies”, as well as Luzelle’s band.
A music video for “Fakebook Funk” that Luzelle and Paul shot “on the spur of the moment” earlier this year during a visit to Switzerland with a smartphone, was released on Friday.
She says that during their visit the couple came across an old factory that had been converted into an outdoor art gallery. According to Luzelle, this building’s colorful graffiti art complemented her song perfectly.
Although she grew up completely bilingual, “Fakebook Funk” will also be the first time that Luzelle releases music in Afrikaans.
She hopes that her spirited guitar playing, “rock style” and honest lyrics are something that South African listeners will enjoy, precisely because there is little African music in this genre.
Watch the music video for “Fakebook Funk” here:
