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
Inverted Mirrors of Decay
Leandra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
cause neither he´s wise nor he´s wiser
Two mice I saw´re drowned in butter
cause neither he´s wise nor his parents
Two eyes I shut to see you closer
why did you bath in muddy waters
Inside I feel you´re my disposer
Wake up, why are you so predictable?
Beautiful morning...
Sounds like our minds can be so invincible
Follow the warning sign
It could be mine, it could be mine
Tonight I died of my reflection
I suddenly fell into milk and
been kicking and screaming
to die in a bowl of my projection
so guess what a mouse had
turned out to be
And I´m drowning
I´m drowning
I´m drowning
I´m drowning
Wake up, why are you so predictable?
Beautiful morning...
Sounds like our minds can be so invincible
Follow the warning sign
It could be mine, it could be mine
... and I die for deserving a swim through your river
I´m calling the ghosts of the certain deceiver and I´m
burning the hay oh I will find the needle
I drown in the water the water is me
but I know that I´m eager to choke the results
of particular cravings, of hunger, of thirst, of bulimic embraces
oh, comfort my tongue
while they dress and uncover and write you a song for them
I will not sigh and I will not enchant you
You´ve covered me blind for translations to hide to arise you
I run from the shadow, the shadow is mine to despise you
We´re running out of time
The lyrics of "Inverted Mirrors of Decay" by Leandra are highly metaphorical, and the meaning of each verse can vary according to the listener's interpretation. The song starts with the image of two mice drowned in butter, which suggests that someone is caught in a trap of their own making. The following line suggests that the cause of their demise is that they are not wise, nor are their parents. This implies a certain level of inheritance of unwise behavior or attitudes.
This takes us to the next stanza where Leandra sings about shutting two eyes to see someone closer, and questions why they would willingly bathe in muddy waters. This could be interpreted as a symbol for willingly engaging in messy, unhealthy experiences or relationships. The line "inside I feel you're my disposer, outside there's nothing to hide from but you" can imply that the person in question is toxic or controlling, and the singer is feeling powerless because of them.
The song then takes a dark and introspective turn, with the chorus urging the singer to wake up from their predictable behaviors and follow the warning signs. The line "Tonight I died of my reflection, I suddenly fell into milk and been kicking and screaming to die in a bowl of my projection" paints a vivid picture of a person drowning in their own feelings of self-doubt or insecurity, wanting to project an image of strength while feeling trapped in their own mental turmoil.
Overall, "Inverted Mirrors of Decay" is a haunting and powerful song that speaks to the struggles of mental health and toxic relationships. The poetic lyrics can be interpreted in different ways, and the repetition of the drowning theme makes it a poignant reflection of the feeling of being overwhelmed by one's own emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Two mice I saw´re drowned in butter
I observed that two mice have drowned in butter
cause neither he´s wise nor he´s wiser
because neither of them or their parents is wise enough to avoid such death
cause neither he´s wise nor his parents
because neither of the mice or their parents is wise enough to avoid such death
Two eyes I shut to see you closer
I close two of my eyes to see you more intimately
why did you bath in muddy waters
why did you choose to immerse yourself in dirty and impure environments
Inside I feel you´re my disposer
internally I believe you are controlling me and my actions
outside there´s nothing to hide from but you
externally there is nothing to conceal from except your presence
Wake up, why are you so predictable?
awake and become more spontaneous and less prone to repetition
Beautiful morning...
despite everything, it is a beautiful morning
Sounds like our minds can be so invincible
the power and resilience of our minds are evident
Follow the warning sign
heed the warning signs and act accordingly
It could be mine, it could be mine
the impending danger or opportunity is within my reach
Tonight I died of my reflection
tonight I perished because of what I saw when I looked in the mirror
I suddenly fell into milk and
I abruptly plunged into the whiteness of milk
been kicking and screaming
I struggled and cried out in agony
to die in a bowl of my projection
to meet my demise in the bowl of my own imagination
so guess what a mouse had
surprisingly, a mouse had done the same before
turned out to be
ended up being
And I´m drowning
and I am engulfed in deep waters
I´m drowning
I am drowning
Wake up, why are you so predictable?
awake and become less redundant and more spontaneous
Beautiful morning...
it's a beautiful morning despite everything
Sounds like our minds can be so invincible
our minds are capable of incredible resilience and strength
Follow the warning sign
heed the warning signs and act accordingly
It could be mine, it could be mine
the imminent risk or opportunity belongs to me
... and I die for deserving a swim through your river
I would die seeking to navigate through the depths of your innermost desires
I´m calling the ghosts of the certain deceiver and I´m
I call upon the ghosts of the deceiver who caused me pain and harm
burning the hay oh I will find the needle
destroying the haystack in search for the needle, the elusive solution
I drown in the water the water is me
I am submerged in the water, and the water has become a part of me
but I know that I´m eager to choke the results
yet I am eager to suppress the consequences of my actions or lack thereof
of particular cravings, of hunger, of thirst, of bulimic embraces
of specific impulses, needs, desires, and unhealthy indulgences
oh, comfort my tongue
oh, soothe me and make me feel comfortable
while they dress and uncover and write you a song for them
while they adorn and reveal your secrets and write songs for themselves
I will not sigh and I will not enchant you
I refuse to sigh or cast a spell on you
You´ve covered me blind for translations to hide to arise you
you have blinded me with translations to conceal your true self
I run from the shadow, the shadow is mine to despise you
I run from my own shadow, which I despise for reminding me of you
We´re running out of time
we are rapidly running out of time to remedy our situation
Writer(s): Olga Telnow Copyright: Drakkar Ii Edition
Contributed by Gabriella D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Nevermore
I wish there were more artists like her... Dark piano and vocals
Brian - The Paranormal Detective
I think someone is a bit good at making videos now and also picking out the lyrics lol I think this is my favourite song by her that I've heard so far. I'm sure you'll "wow" me again though when you make your next video with her as the soundtrack =P I love you very much Ceri XD <333 xXx
CellisVallen
Yeah I like this song, I listen to Emilie already and found this by looking around her videos thanks for posting it