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
Lie To Me
Leandra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
made the dream complete
Did you reach the inner world
coming home?
Lie to me
Lie to me
Lie to me
When cares and depths collide
and the circle melts within
Cold breeze take me home again
shivering
Lie to me
Lie to me
Lie to me
if you promise i'd leave
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
Sometimes I fall
Sometimes surrender
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
All the calm shielded gaze
made the dream complete
Did you reach the inner world
coming home?
Lie to me
Lie to me
Lie to me
if you promise i'd leave
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
Sometimes I fall
Sometimes surrender
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
Sometimes I fall
Sometimes surrender
Meet me on the winter´s sight
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Show me then your golden heart
My eyes shall burn
My eyes shall end her
Lie to me
Lie to me
Lie to me
if you promise i'd...
Lie to me
Lie to me
Lie to me
My eyes shall end her
The song "Lie to Me" by Leandra is a hauntingly beautiful track that explores the complexities of human relationships, particularly the desire for honesty and the simultaneous longing for validation. The lyrics are simple yet evocative, using images of winter and the inner world to create a sense of stark beauty and emotional depth. The opening lines describe a calm, shielded gaze that completes a dreamlike experience - perhaps a moment of connection or intimacy that is ultimately illusory. The chorus follows with the repeated plea to "lie to me," indicating that the singer wants to be told something that will allow them to escape the current reality. The final verse describes a desire to meet in the winter's sight, suggesting a yearning for emotional intensity that can only be found in darker, colder moments. The singer acknowledges their own vulnerability and tendency to both fall and surrender, indicating that they are seeking something real but also willing to accept the risks involved.
Overall, "Lie to Me" is a song about the pervasive human need for both honesty and validation, and the tension between these two desires. The lyrics and melody combine to create a haunting and beautiful track that is sure to resonate with listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
A calm sheilded gaze
The stillness in your eyes gives the illusion of tranquility
made the dream complete
Without your composure, the fantasy would have been broken
Did you reach the inner world
Did you make it to the place inside yourself that is raw and honest
coming home?
Finding that inner world feels like returning to your true self
Lie to me
Tell me what I want to hear
if you promise i'd leave
I'll believe your lies if you can give me a way out of this situation
When cares and depths collide
When the pressures of life and emotions meet
and the circle melts within
And my control over my life slips away
Cold breeze take me home again
The emptiness fills me again with longing for familiarity
shivering
I feel exposed and vulnerable
Meet me on the winter´s sight
Come to me in a world of hibernation and isolation
My eyes shall burn
I'll be looking for something intense and passionate
My eyes shall end her
But when I find it, it will only be fleeting
Show me then your golden heart
If you can prove to me that you have warmth and kindness within you, I'll believe you
Sometimes I fall
Often I stumble or make mistakes
Sometimes surrender
Occasionally I just give up and let things happen
All the calm shielded gaze
The exterior of calm that I show to the world
Made the dream complete
Kept up the illusion of a world without pain
My eyes shall end her
I'll keep searching for that intense and passionate connection
Writer(s): Olga Telnow Copyright: Drakkar Ii Edition
Contributed by Alex D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Brian - The Paranormal Detective
An impressive song by her, and you did pretty good picking out the lyrics for this one. They're a lot harder to work out on this video compared to the other one. It's an amazing video though and I love the effect you use on the background pictures as it changes colour all the way through. It gets to colours which suit the mood of the piece XD I love you! <333 xXx MINE! :D <3
GGWP
I love Emilie Autumn, and this singer it's unique like her...! Really thanks for the lyrics!
Alchemist92o Deana
I love her music and this is my favorite song!
Arturs Strawberys
Greetings from Latvia, artist is from Russia, amazing
Dmitry Tharn
From Belarus, actually
TheGr1mSqueaker
fave song from the album :)
Leandra Luckey
She's really good
LILITH22266
yeah, thanks for this video and i also love emilie ;)
Fomistu
i just discovered "Leandra" can somebody give to me more details about her? Is a band or... she is alone anything you know... thx
Paul Johnson
My Leandra.