Ghost Keys and Glitched Realities: Inside Joshua Ferdman’s Dreamlike Sound Universe

Imagine Chopin raised in a server farm. That’s the easiest way to describe the unclassifiable genius of Joshua Ferdman.

The New York-based pianist-composer-producer is building sonic dreamscapes where time folds in on itself.

His latest album, Memory.exe, is a hypnotic blend of broken classical phrases, decaying tape loops, and synth textures that feel half-haunted, half-heavenly.

Neon Music met up with Ferdman at an abandoned church in Ridgewood, where he records much of his music by candlelight.

“I want every track to feel like a memory of something that maybe never happened,” he says. “Music that glitches inside your soul.”

Tracks like Arpeggio Ghosts and Sleep Data_01 evoke vintage Björk, Nils Frahm, and Aphex Twin, but still feel startlingly original.

His fans include video game developers, AI artists, and experimental filmmakers. “It’s music for people who live half-online, half-inside,” he laughs.

There’s a theory behind the madness. “I’m chasing digital nostalgia,” he explains.

“We’re all nostalgic for things we barely remember: MSN Messenger, broken modems, the smell of old hard drives. I want my music to hit that phantom frequency.”

With Memory.exe charting on Bandcamp and a recent feature in DAZED Digital, Ferdman is already gaining cult status. But he’s not aiming for the mainstream.

“Mass appeal is for people who want to be seen. I make music for people who want to disappear, but beautifully.”

Joshua Ferdman’s new album will be released soon.