Sitting down for a conversation with 19-year-old musician Moses Freih felt more like a studio session than an interview, as the NYU sophomore’s responses often came coupled with him pulling up project files and explaining his work hands-on.

For Freih, a psychology major on a pre-med track, music always played an active role growing up, as his father was a popular Jordanian singer in the 1980s. He recalled the exact moment of his initial foray into producing electronic music.

“I was on the music blog Majestic Casual and heard ‘Walk With Me’ by Cosmo’s Midnight,” Freih said. “I was like, ‘I need to do that.’ So my friend Jason offered to show me the basics and got me started on Ableton Live. I made really shitty beats for about a month just trying to learn. But then I made ‘Youth’ in a day. Not many people know that. I originally had a Taylor Swift remix I was gonna drop first, but ‘Youth’ was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I was like, ‘Woah, this actually sounds like a song.’”

This first track, a remix of Troye Sivan’s song “Youth,” has amassed nearly 7,000 plays on Soundcloud since its drop six months ago. Propelled by his strong debut, Freih followed up over the next few months with remixes of “All My Friends” by Snakehips, “Begin Again” by Purity Ring and “While We Have The Time” by fellow NYU artist PLVTINUM.

Elaborating on his progress, Freih described his first two tracks as “electronic groovy hip-hop,” but his style has since expanded to incorporate future bass influences heard on his remixes of “Begin Again” and “While We Have The Time.” From listening, it is clear that each track is part of a cohesive sonic progression, introducing new techniques while retaining a signature, soulful sound.

However, Freih’s musical aspirations extend beyond just remixes. When asked which of his tracks he’s most proud of, he pulled up a new project as a surprise.

“This is an original I’m working on now,” he said. “It’s dope cause I never thought of making one before, but I promised my friend we would make a song and he was like, ‘Yo let’s do it right now.’”

From listening to the work in progress, elements from all of his remixes appear to collide into a pinnacle; the verse was groovy, then the drop came in seamlessly with infectious synths and lush textures using techniques Freih honed more recently. His first original is poised to be something special.

When asked where he sees himself as a musician in five years, Freih gave a rather pragmatic answer. He explained he won’t have much spare time during med school, but afterwards he’ll have the money to afford more equipment and the time to dive deep into music.  

One thing is certain — Moses Freih is an artist to keep an eye on as he continues to progress at astonishing rates, build on his solid foundation and create captivating music.

Check out Freih’s work at www.soundcloud.com/moses-freih.

Email Satish Reginald at [email protected].