The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ciarán Coghlan of Coroza, Astralist & Obsidian Imagery
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ciarán Coghlan of Coroza, Astralist & Obsidian Imagery
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I would reluctantly call myself an artist in the sense that I make music and art in various forms. It’s something I’ve always done, before I could talk or walk, I was creating things. Most of us are like this from an early age. Unfortunately, some people just stop or don’t consider it a worthwhile endeavor and put it to the back of their mind for the rest of their life. I have always had a creative streak and it’s what makes life interesting for me – trying to create something that I am proud of. And behind that one thing that works are 100 other things that failed for me to get there. It’s about learning lessons and applying them to the next thing you create.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first real musical memory (besides background noise on the radio) was hearing my older brother playing Nirvana and Guns ‘n’ Roses loud as hell in his room (probably around 1993). That really opened my ears up to the fact that music could be a source of expression that channeled anger, depression, frustration, attitude, rebelliousness and many, many more perspectives that you won’t hear on the radio.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I could name about a thousand different things – but the best in recent memory was playing a headline gig in Limerick, here in Ireland in November 2021 with Coroza and having my other band Astralist as one of the opening bands for our debut performance. It was our first time back playing with Coroza since 2019 because of all the lockdowns and no live music being performed in two years. It was a cathartic experience; the crowd was happy to be back witnessing live music and we were just all so happy to be back on a stage again. If that would have been the last time I ever played music I would have been happy to go out on that night alone.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I have always been a strict atheist bordering on some nihilistic tendencies. In the past couple of years I had a series of bizarre coincidences and synchronicities in my life that really made me question things and start to explore the more esoteric and spiritualistic side of life. I still don’t hold any particular belief to heart, but I was once convinced that life was a futile thing with no real meaning – I firmly held that belief until suddenly I felt there very well could be something else beneath and beyond our reality.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Artistic progression should lead to a better understanding of the world and of people. We’re all different in so many ways and all so similar in other ways. Art being subjective means that there are infinite possibilities for progression in infinite directions. Try and do something that hasn’t been done before, create a chord progression you’ve never heard before, draw something you’ve never seen before. By crossing boundaries and pushing the envelop we discover things about ourselves and the world we live in and about each other. Why does someone love or hate a particular piece of art or music you made? Their honest answer will help you learn more about them, about yourself and about your art.
How do you define success?
I define success by how happy and content you are in life. Money and material possessions will never be able to guarantee that. For me, the act of creating art that releases a part of yourself into the world and is consumed by others to move them in some way is success. You made somebody feel something, made them reflect on things and think about the world differently.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Manowar closing out Hellfest in 2009. Just a terrible, terrible thing to witness. It was 60 percent speeches about how metal they are and then the rest was just bad power metal, bad acting and fireworks. It was the kind of thing that if it were someone’s first introduction to metal I fully would understand if they never wanted to hear metal ever again.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’d like to try my hand at a music video at some point. I did some video editing in college many moons ago and only very recently have started teaching myself how to use Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects again. I’ve always had an interest in photography and videography. There’s a lot of room to tell stories in a visual aspect that can lend so much more to a song’s meaning – whether you’re seeking to clarify things to the listener or obscure them even further.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To me, the function of art is to make people think differently about the world around them. With visual art that is by rearranging objects that exist in society to make people view society in a different way. With music the same is true but you are using musical notes and arrangements to essentially do the same thing. We’ve all had that one of those moments where a song, or a movie or a piece of art changed your life – something that came at you from the left field and turned your worldview upside down and inside out. That, to me, is what art should aim to do. Even if it’s just a fraction of that feeling – but it should stir something in the observer/listener.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Travelling abroad again in a post-pandemic world. I think travel is such an important thing to do in order to gain some perspective on life.
https://www.facebook.com/CorozaBand
https://coroza.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/coroza
https://www.facebook.com/astralistband
https://www.instagram.com/astralist_band/
https://astralist.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/obsidianimagery
https://instagram.com/obsidian_imagery
https://obsidian-imagery.com/
