Olga Telnowa was born in Minsk, Belarus (then the USSR ) as the only child of an English lecturer and a physics engineer.
At the age of five she began to play the theme songs of her favorite series on the piano , at the age of six she was admitted to an elite music school, where she studied piano, classical composition , music theory and choir .
The general school she attended also specialized in promoting musical talent. Her perfect pitch was quickly discovered and her creativity encouraged: the music school allowed her to take part in composition competitions. When she finally won first place in one of the competitions at the age of nine, she got a scholarship at the Moscow Conservatory . However, her parents persuaded the jury to transfer the scholarship to an adequate academy in the city of Minsk because of the young age of their daughter .
Then Olga Telnowa was placed at the Minsk Conservatory, where she began a junior course in piano and composition. In 1996 the family fled to the German Ruhr area . The then successful young pianist tried to continue her junior studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen . Due to language barriers, the 14-year-old only succeeded in doing this after two unsuccessful entrance exams. In the same year she took first place in Jugend composed with the classical piece Variations on a theme of its own and a year later with freedom of variation for a keyboard cattle .
At the age of fourteen, Olga Telnow discovered her love for contemporary rock and punk music. She started wearing her hair brightly and dressing funky. Eventually she left the University of the Arts to take electric guitar lessons. After three years of abstinence from the piano, she made up her mind to take her diploma in piano and composition at the same time as graduating from high school .
At the age of seventeen, Telnow founded the riot-grrrl band Venusbabydoll , in which she processed influences such as Hole and Nirvana . During a two-week internship in a recording studio , the classical pianist developed an interest in recording technology and got to know her long-time mentor and friend. Rya, then under contract with FAME Recordings , took on her by making the first demo recordings of Venusbabydoll and later including the songwriter in her live band as a keyboardist.
Over the next three years, tours with Mila Mar , Last Instance and appearances with Corvus Corax followed . In the meantime, Telnow wrote new pieces of her own, which she describes as "selected from extreme situations", founded the Leandra project and completed her Bachelor of Arts in social and educational psychology.
When Rya withdrew from the public eye, the pianist took on an engagement as keyboard player for the synth rock band Jesus on Extasy under the pseudonym Ophelia Dax . This stage name is made up of one of the characters in the tragedy Hamlet by W. Shakespeare and the character Jadzia Dax from the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
The band Jesus on Extasy was under contract with Drakkar Entertainment , toured Europe over the next few years and shared the festival stages with Nightwish , Tool , Skinny Puppy , And One , Unheilig , Last Instance and Marilyn Manson, among others .
In 2008 the artist finally got a contract with Drakkar Entertainment to release her first solo album Metamorphine under the name Leandra with the Sony BMG distributor . The album includes a duet with Sven Friedrich ( Zeraphine , Dreadful Shadows ). Her longtime friends of the band last instance invited her as a singer and pianist to her acoustic album The White Song and the accompanying The White Tour .
In 2010, Olga Telnow accepted an engagement with the band Diary of Dreams under the pseudonym DAX . Due to personal differences within the band, the collaboration only lasted a few months.
At the end of the same year she joined Apoptygma Berzerk , with whom she competes in the second part of Unheilig's “Great Freedom” tour . In 2011, the keyboard player also appeared at the same time as the cashier band and accompanied Frei.Wild's "XMas" tour on the piano. In 2012 Leandra Ophelia Dax joined Die Priester , Santiano and Roterfeld as keyboard player .
Olga Telnowa describes the solo debut album Metamorphine of her project Leandra as her secret diary. The pieces are a reflection of extreme situations in her life. Stylistically, the music moves between Tori Amos , PJ Harvey and Massive Attack .
Projects and collaborations
2003–2006: Keyboard player with Rya. Tour with Mila Mar and Last Instance.
2007–Dato: Keyboarderin bei Jesus on Extasy
2008 – date: Keyboard player in Andy Brings' band (formerly: Sodom , The Traceelords )
February – July 2010: Keyboard player with Diary of Dreams, for the tour with Unheilig.
2008: Duet with Sven Friedrich ( Zeraphine , Dreadful Shadows )
2008: Piano and vocals on the album The White Song by the band Last Instance and on the subsequent The White Tour
2008: Club single Noisy Awareness , remixed by Chai Deveraux, guitarist of Jesus on Extasy.
2009: Duet with Sid from The Pussybats on The Most Beautiful Tales End Sadly and Dance With the Devils , both on the album Famous Last Songs .
2010: Live keyboard at Apoptygma Berzerk for the Unheilig Support Tour Große Freiheit II .
2011: Background singer at Frei.Wild - only assholes around me
2012: Live Keyboard at Santiano
2013: Background singer with Frei.Wild on the album Still
Angeldaemon
Leandra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Angelflanger always
Always on the run
Capture souls and dreams and voices
Noisy voices rumors
Rumors made undone
Collect diseases hungry virus
Branches round the past
But I am joking I´m a demon
Angeldaemon begging
begging you to trust
Get up my head get up my
I´ve always seen your eyes open
Get up my mind get up my
I´ve never heard you´ve spoken
I´ve always seen you broken
So progressive so involving
Sky´s emerging tumors
Tumors waves and stars
Captured beings all exhausted
Sky´s a virgin phantoms
Phantoms all of us
Collect diseases hungry virus
Virus spirals branches
Branches round the past
But I am joking I´m a demon
Angeldaemon begging
begging you to trust
Get up my head get up my
I´ve always seen your eyes open
Get up my mind get up my
I´ve never heard you´ve spoken
I´ve always seen you broken
I just kill the ghosts you´ve woken
The song "Angeldaemon" by Leandra seems to be an exploration of the complicated and sometimes contradictory nature of human existence. The singer expresses a desire to be an angel, but also acknowledges that they are just joking and are in fact a demon. This contradiction sets the tone for the rest of the song, which is filled with images of chaos, disease, and exhaustion, as well as moments of unexpected beauty and transformation.
The first verse speaks to the singer's dual nature as both an angel and a demon. They prefer to be an angel, the purity and goodness of which is emphasized through the use of the term "angelflanger". However, they are always on the run, which suggests a restlessness and perhaps a sense of unease with their existence. They are also in the business of capturing souls, dreams, and voices, which could be interpreted as a manifestation of their demon side. However, the "noisy voices rumors" that they collect are "made undone", suggesting that their ultimate goal is to dispel falsehood and bring clarity.
The second verse continues the theme of chaos and transformation. The singer collects "diseases hungry virus", which spiral and branch out around them. This imagery could be interpreted as a metaphor for the spread of negativity or toxicity, but could also be seen as an attempt to understand and contain these negative forces. The chorus, with its repeated entreaty to "get up my head" and "get up my mind", seems to be a plea for the listener to break free from their own limitations and see the beauty and complexity of the world around them.
Overall, "Angeldaemon" is a song that invites interpretation and reflection. Its mixture of contrasting images and ideas creates a sense of complexity and ambiguity that encourages the listener to engage with the lyrics and consider their own perspective on the nature of existence.
Line by Line Meaning
I prefer to be an angel
Leandra prefers to be a figure associated with purity and goodness
Angelflanger always
Leandra considers herself to be an ‘angel-flanger,’ someone who flits around like an angel
Always on the run
Leandra is constantly moving
Capture souls and dreams and voices
Leandra takes in the souls, dreams, and voices of others
Noisy voices rumors
Leandra hears loud, persistent gossip
Rumors made undone
Leandra puts an end to these rumors
Collect diseases hungry virus
Leandra acquires diseases and viruses that are always hungry
Virus spirals branches
The viruses and diseases spread out in a spiral pattern
Branches round the past
These illnesses are a part of her past experiences
But I am joking I´m a demon
Leandra is not serious about being an evil being like a demon
Angeldaemon begging
Leandra is asking for trust from others
Begging you to trust
Leandra wants people to trust her
Get up my head get up my
Leandra is urging someone to awaken and pay attention to her
I´ve always seen your eyes open
Leandra has noticed that the person she is speaking to is constantly attentive
Get up my mind get up my
Leandra wants this same person to think critically and converse with her
I´ve never heard you´ve spoken
Leandra has never heard this person speak before
I´ve always seen you broken
Leandra has observed that this person has been emotionally damaged
So progressive so involving
Leandra is highly interested in progress and collaboration
Sky´s emerging tumors
The sky is full of tumors that are growing and expanding quickly
Tumors waves and stars
These tumors exist in the midst of waves and stars
Captured beings all exhausted
People who are captured are all fatigued and depleted of energy
Sky´s a virgin phantoms
Leandra sees the sky as pure and haunting with the presence of ghosts
Phantoms all of us
Leandra believes that we all have ghost-like qualities
I just kill the ghosts you´ve woken
Leandra is simply trying to rid this person of their haunting memories
Contributed by Ryan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
scannorse
Brilliant :-) Totally underrated, great performance.
Patryk P
Awesome <3
infolieger
masterpiece!!!
Paul Johnson
Leandra. The Dreamworld.
Justin ftm
ich heiße Leandra 😀