Name: Elisa Giulia Teschner aka Ellereve
Nationality: German
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Ellereve's Reminiscence is out March 31st 2023 via Eisenwald.
Recommendations: In general I would recommend the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke. They have inspired and touched me from a very young age on.
Also the masterpiece of an album called Perfect Darkness by Fink means the world to me.

If you enjoyed this Ellereve interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

There is a lot of music that reminds me of certain things. People, places, experiences, even phases of life. A lot of it appears in front of my eyes. Sometimes it seems to me that a certain song could literally catapult me into an earlier year in my life and yesterday feels like today.

Regardless of me being a way too nostalgic person and all of the music that I associate with the past - sometimes no specific images appear to me at all and the sounds rather trigger a feeling and put me in a certain mood. Goosebumps are definitely not uncommon when a song touches me very deeply or sometimes a tear rolls down my cheeks.

There are two situations where I’m having my eyes closed while listening to music - when I lay on my floor in the living room or I’m visiting a concert and I’m really enjoying a song. But most of the times my eyes are open.

I recorded some (to me) incredible pieces of music when I had almost no idea what I was doing. What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

I would partially claim that I still have no idea what I'm really doing now haha! I’ve never learned singing or playing an instrument in a traditional way through classes or coaches. Everything I have taught myself was autodidactically. I’m even writing the songs without any knowledge of music theory ... For a while I have tried to acquire some, but after a short time I already forgot everything.

So, my songs are only created through my passion for melody and soundscapes. I think this completely unbiased and carefree approach has advantages and disadvantages, but so far I'm still pleased with the way my songs are evolving.

Looking back to when I started making music, a lot of things changed anyway. For one thing, I wish I would have encouraged myself much earlier to play guitar while singing - I always thought I wasn't capable of it, but surprisingly, with a lot of hard work and perseverance it finally worked out!

My thirst for knowledge was the reason why I taught myself to produce music four years ago. Within these years my sound and songwriting developed constantly and this experience has been very enriching.

It is generally believed that we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between 13-16. Tell me what music meant to you at that age, please – and how its impact has changed since then.

Oh, I would say music meant everything to me at that time. It was my salvation, my safe place and best friend.

My whole day was dominated by music. It started on the way to school with my mp3 player and my favourite songs on the headphones. This literally saved me, because I hated school. I was a misfit and a very angry and melancholic teenager. I felt misunderstood by the whole word.

Music helped me through this difficult time. I started playing the acoustic guitar and as soon as I got out of school I listened to music and sang all day long.

When I was 13 my fascination for dark and heavy sounds started and I discovered the world of black metal. I think gloomy guitar-based and atmospheric music has shaped me very much during that time and I think you’ll notice this kind of mood in music today.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and how do you think has working with them shaped your perspective on music?

I've definitely experienced that not all the instruments I love or have a fascination for, are the ones I can actually play. I started playing the violin when I was 9 years old, but after a short period of time I gave up. I enjoyed the sound of a violin more than the effort it takes to learn the instrument.

It was totally different with the guitar, everything just felt very natural and flowing right away, like - that’s “my instrument”.

I have always had a great passion for spherical sounds and wanted to express myself creatively in this area as well. This chapter started when I began with producing and recording my own music in Ableton. It sometimes happens that I’m diving for hours in some synth sounds that are inspiring to me so I’m about to write a new song.

Writing songs in this way or being able to give my creativity this space was and is very important to me.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Music is like therapy for me. My inspiration are my emotions and being able to express them through music is very healing for me. I think I would literally freak out if I couldn't do this anymore.

I guess it is such a rare and beautiful feeling to experience live music at the same time with other people, being aware that everyone is sharing some kind
of love and fascination for this certain type of music as well. Such moments always have a very specific energy.

And of course for me as an artist myself, the feeling of being able to share my music live with the audience is indescribable.

Paul Simon has been quoted as claiming that “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I also think the overall sound decides whether you or the person who is listening to your music finds access to it.

Often while writing a song you are satisfied with one part but in the confluence with everything else you are still dissatisfied or you do have the feelings it doesn’t harmonise in some way. Once you have found an approach to the mood and structure of the song, then you can delve deeper into the details.

I would describe my own sound as dark and atmospheric, melancholic and dreamy. Somewhere between Dark Rock with Shoegaze and Postrock influences.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to forces of nature. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I love nature, this is where I feel most at home and these noises and sounds are my most favourites.

Being somewhere up in the mountains, hearing absolutely nothing than singing birds and soft or stormy winds. The sound of raging waves, chirping crickets under a starry sky. These are always moments that make my heart burst.But sometimes it’s also the simple things like raindrops on my window that I’m really enjoying.

Vibrations, lows, highs, wide, pointed, hard and soft … These and many more are characteristics of nature and music at the same time.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Creativity has no boundaries and that's how I write music. How long a composition will be, is getting developed during the songwriting process.

I can not really answer what I'm leaning towards. Sometimes my songs are short, sometimes long. In general, I have never based myself on a classic song structure (verse / pre chorus / chorus, etc.)

In general I would say I’m drawn to both sides. And by both I mean in very opposite and extreme ways. On the one hand I like dark, heavy, powerful music like Metal but I also like reduced, soft, atmospheric genres like Indie Folk, Classical Music, Ambient and many more. These influences are definitely a part of my music somehow.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads of ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

As already mentioned before, I never stick to a certain kind of songwriting structure. However, I would say that some of my songs have a catchiness through melody and repetition and I tend to write epic build up parts at the end of a song.

Science and art have certain overlaps and similarities. Do you you think "objectivity" has a place in art and do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

In my opinion science and music are pretty contrasting - while science is built on research and facts, music is limitless and multidimensional. I’m not using scientific insights to craft my music a certain way.

Seeing, smelling, touching, tasting – which of these sense impressions have the strongest points of contact with your hearing/listening experience?

There is something of everything. Music makes me feel alive, connects mind and body.

Does the way you make music reflect on the way you live your life? And vice versa, can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I would definitely say that the art I’m making is a mirror of my inner world. There is a part of my soul in it and because of that it reflects and resonates somehow the way I’m living and feeling.

The universe of music offers an infinite space of inspiration and interpretation. Which is why I strongly believe that everyone tales their own individual views from it and of course learning lessons about life are part of it.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Haha yeah, I wouldn't compare those two things at all. In general there's really nothing I can compare with it.

Expressing myself musically is a matter of survival for me and there is something magical about sharing these creations with others. Sometimes we get lost between routines and everyday life. Art is the anchor between being and our emotional world. Between longing, hope, dreams and fears. Between the things we don't dare to say out loud.

There's something very liberating about it and I guess everyone has their own personal outlet and my outlet is obviously music … most of the time.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Conversely, many popular love songs leave me cold. Do you have similar paradoxical examples - and why, do you think, is the same piece of music capable of conjuring such vastly different responses in different listeners?

Haha! Indeed, I also generally have the tendency to listen to music which has absolutely nothing to do with mainstream or isn’t suitable for it.

Isn't the fact that we are consuming the same thing - music - but it triggers very individual feelings in everyone absolutely fascinating? That's exactly what makes the world so exciting. If we all had the same tastes the world would be so boring.

For example, I was totally impressed by the album False Calm by Lume which has stunning doomy-postrock vibes. I was pretty sure my mom would dig to it too, but she did not like it at all.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I honestly have to say that quite a lot of what I wished for has already happened and I am infinitely grateful for that. I think these wishes that have been fulfilled so far are the cornerstone for even more of my dreams.

I would like to be able to continue to focus on the music and make it the center of my life - of course it already is the center of my life, but with sufficient support, the possibilities are much more extensive.

My music is constantly evolving as I am changing myself. I'm very keen to experiment, my head is always bubbling with ideas and plans and I'm excited about this journey.