The Proust Questionnaire with Musician Chase Cohl
For this edition of our Proust Questionnaire, we turn to Chase Cohl - a singer and songwriter whose world feels at once romantic and resolutely grounded. There is something beautifully old-soul about her: cashmere and vintage guitars, countryside mornings and crossword rituals, a devotion to art in all its forms.
Our series is based on The Proust Questionnaire. It was originally a parlor game popularised by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions it revealed ones true nature.
What is your current state of mind?
Warm. I’m spending the winter staying extremely insular. The world feels less devastating the smaller it is these days. Less news, less apps, less online time, more focus on the things & people directly in my orbit.
How do you switch off?
Burning hot bath, icy cold wine.
What is the trait you most admire in others?
Resilience, kindness, openness. Less gatekeeping, more community.
Which living person do you most admire?
My Mum, without question.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Really soft cashmere sweaters & a vintage guitar or two.
What is the first thing that you do when you wake in the morning?
Wordle.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Empathy. The world does not treat others the way it wishes to be treated nearly enough.
Do you have any daily rituals?
Morning coffee, a walk (no matter how short), the crossword, many, many cups of tea. I try to do something creative & something physical as often as I can.
What do you most like about your appearance?
That I don’t look like everybody else.
What does wellbeing mean to you?
Self-acceptance & allowing yourself to be loved. And try to drink some water.
What is the quality you most like in a person?
Someone who is comfortable in their own skin.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
You know when you start saying something sarcastically & it accidentally seeps into your syntax? That happened to me with “lol”. I can’t be stopped. Even when I am not, in fact laughing out loud. Viciously uncool. I also probably say like too much.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Art! Music! My best friends! Children! My dogs! Fashion! My boyfriend! My parents! Fresh air! Bad movies! Love itself! I love love!
When and where are you happiest?
In the countryside, that one day of the year where you wake up in the morning & smell in the air that autumn set in overnight.
Which talent would you most like to have?
Perfect pitch. Or I’d love to be great at painting.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
To have better focus.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My babies, both artistic & human.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Oh, I’d love to be a classical composers. I wonder what it must have felt like to live inside the brain of Debussy or Beethoven, to create that much beauty. That, or a great winged bird.
Where would you most like to live?
England or France, in the countryside, in an old stone house.
What is your most treasured possession?
A first edition of Arthur Rimbaud’s Illuminations & a 1959 Gibson.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
No laughter.
What is your favourite occupation?
I can’t pick just one! That is why I have many!
What is your most marked characteristic?
Loyalty, I would think.
What do you most value in your friends?
Humour.
Who are your favourite writers?
Mary Oliver, Leonard Cohen, Adrienne Rich, Charlotte Bronte, Jacques Prevert, Pema Chodron, Bob Dylan, Aldous Huxley, Milan Kundera, Maggie Nelson, the list goes on…
Who is your hero of fiction?
Oh I don’t know. I should say Jane Eyre or something, but really, it’s probably one of those 1930s film stars in a gorgeous lamé gown who run about throwing drinks in men’s faces dramatically.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Zoe Lucas, an environmentalist who lives alone on an island in the middle of the ocean with 500 wild horses. I need a lot of alone time to feel like my best self.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Joni Mitchell, Joan Didion, Jane Goodall, Jane Fonda.
What are your favourite names?
Has to be my two little ones, Blondie & Raef,
What brings pleasure to your day?
Kisses, coffee
Do you have any products or objects that you can’t live without?
Record player, good book.
Where is your favourite place to wake up in the world?
North Ontario, by a lake.
What is your motto?
Do onto others...
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