Abigail Ward (DJ)

Abigail Ward is an artist, music producer, DJ, writer, curator, broadcaster & podcast producer.

She makes music under the name Ghoßt Assembly. Her debut release, ‘I Miss Your Love’ – a raw and soulful homage to late 80s Chicago house – was released on Rüf Kutz in summer ‘23, achieving plays on BBC 6 Music and DJ support from Roísín Murphy, JD Twitch (Optimo), Luke Una, Bradley Zero and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy.

As a DJ Abigail thrives on creating absorbing multi-genre musical road trips that are guaranteed to elicit an emotional response, be that on a dancefloor, at an art gallery or in your headphones.

Twelve years as a counter jockey in Manchester’s best-loved independent record shops, Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange and Kingbee inspired her open-eared eclecticism. A well-schooled crate digger, she excels at stitching together oddball tunes from far flung corners of the world and doing on-the-fly edits with decks ‘n’ FX .

Her abiding musical passions include rare soundtracks, krautrock, deep soul and reggae, but she is equally at ease banging out underground house in a sweaty club, or live-streaming a leftfield pop set from her studio in Hulme. The thread that runs through all of her musical selections is a sense of mystery, melody and a certain voodoo groove.

Also a broadcaster of some repute, Abigail has curated sets for BBC 6 Music, NTS, Melodic Distraction and Reform Radio. As a presenter she is celebrated as much for her subversive badinage as for her musical choices.

Abigail is a co-founder of Suffragette City, an annual large-scale club event celebrating female, trans and non-binary DJ talent, which raises funds for local grass roots charities.

Her most recent bookings include Gottwood, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Psyche Fest, Partisan at Islington Mill and Homobloc, where head honcho Luke Una (Worldwide FM, Electric Chair, Homo Electric) described her thus:

‘She’s like a young Mancuso. Her selections are insanely magical. She’s got that thing. You can’t contrive that or buy or replicate it. It’s deeply esoteric and natural and perfectly balanced. One of the unsung heroes.’