Teodora
This interview explores Teodora’s deeply emotional new single “The End Is Where It Started”, a cinematic reflection on loss, afterlife, and transformation, blending vulnerability, sound experimentation, and personal healing through music.
1. “The End Is Where It Started” explores the idea of life continuing beyond the body—what inspired you to approach such a profound and existential theme from this perspective?
I’ve always felt drawn to the “unexplainable”. The fact that no one can really confirm or deny what happens after this life has ended makes it really easy to believe in what you want to believe. 6 years ago I lost my boyfriend, who really was the love of my life, and ever since I’ve been exploring what afterlife means to me. In this song I am the one experiencing the afterlife – therefore it is my soul that is singing, not me.
2. You describe the song as a voice that exists after physical death. How did you translate that concept emotionally and vocally in your performance?
I really tried to deliver the vocals the way they sounded in my head as I was writing the song. Each lyric has its own emotion and delivery. The breathy vocals throughout the song, but especially in the beginning, represent the lack of strength, lack of breath, fear of the unknown and confusion, but in a weirdly calm way. I imagine going through that transition would be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, so the hardest part of writing this song was staying on theme while trying to find something I’ve never experienced in myself. At first, I wanted to keep the whole song in that dreamy state where everywhere around you there’s chaos but you only feel that weird calmness. After some thought I decided to give it a human touch as well – which is why we also have lyrics like “This is not where I wanna be” and “My mind is blurry I’m trying to just keep running and running” sang in a more disturbed voice.
3. The track blends minimalism with cinematic intensity—what was your vision for the sound, and how did you shape the atmosphere in the studio?
I love contradiction – especially in songwriting. I wanted to have these soft, breathy vocals singing “I am screaming loud, but you can’t hear” while there’s this bright guitar in the background. I am very lucky to have my best friend, Nemanja, as my producer. That always makes everything so much easier. He understands me, he understands what I want to do and he’s always down to explore new sounds and ways to do something. He thought of putting marching drums while I sing about running towards the light which just brought the songs to life (ironically). After that, we knew the last chorus has to be pure chaos and that’s what it is – musically, vocally and visually. The last part of the song is acceptance, but also it is just a quiet moment between me and my boyfriend.
4. The music video moves through stages like anger, stillness, and acceptance. How important was it for you to visually represent these emotional transitions?
It was very important, but very hard to manage. In the video there’s the human connection to death represented as well as the divine. At first you don’t expect it to be as emotional as it is. When you see that human anger right next to the divine calmness, stillness and even happiness it just changes your perspective. It is all happening at once – and that is what makes it hit. Like – yes, it’s extremely painful going through the loss of a loved one, but I imagine that on the other side they are just having the best experience, no pain, no suffering, just that beautiful stillness I keep talking about. As I mentioned, it was hard to manage which scene contains which emotion and atmosphere without losing track of the main storyline. Luckily I have amazing, talented and capable friends that I absolutely couldn’t have done this without. Being an independent artist – the best thing you can have is supportive friends and family who will treat your projects like their own and I feel extremely lucky to have that.
5. Your work often carries a strong sense of vulnerability and philosophical depth. How does this release reflect your evolution as an artist?
This theme is 100% something I wouldn’t have had the courage to explore in my songwriting a few years ago. I have always and will always be really open and honest in my music. The first thing I do when I have a realization of any kind or an emotion that feels over consuming at the moment is write a song about it. Sometimes it comes out as just the opposite – I would write an empowering song while feeling super insecure. This song kinda happened by accident. I started playing around with some samples and I really liked what I made. When I started mumbling something to it, my mind just turned off and I actually was the soul beyond the body saying things like “I can hear you when you’re calling, but my voice is going nowhere”. Needless to say, I was very happy that I unlocked this new chapter where I am able to say something without the fear of what it will bring.
6. With this single marking a new era for you, what can listeners expect next from Teodora in terms of sound and storytelling?
This is the hardest question for me to answer. I am really big on being yourself in your art – always. We are always changing and evolving so it is hard to predict how you will grow sometimes. As far as the sound goes, I can say with certainty that there will be something for everyone. I grew up listening to all kinds of different music genres and all of them have impacted me in a way – so you can find all of them in the music that I make. You can already tell a lot about who I am and who I’ve been from my first two EPs: Alter Ego (Side A) and Alter Ego (Side B). In the future I just hope to get to experiment as much as possible and collaborate with songwriters and artists I admire, like Eminem, Raye, Billie Eilish and Finneas.