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Since performing at Perth's Breakfest festival last year and briefly touring through Canada, Nick Thayer says he's been hard at work to finish off his new EP. While he spends most of his week in the studio, the Melbourne artist says he does occasionally find time to pursue other, rockier musical interests. “Every now and then the opportunity comes up to bash out a couple of Aerosmith songs with some friends,” says Thayer. “It's got such an amazing blend of funk and rock and soul and it's so raw so sitting there playing Sweet Emotion is quite a long way away from sitting in a studio working out a snare drum for six hours. It's a nice break and I think it lets you go back to the joy of playing music with other people which is something that can get quite lost when you sit alone in a dark room for days on end.”

On top of work on the EP and the occasional rock show, Thayer says he's finally got a chance to score music for the Australian Ballet with dancer and choreographer Alice Topp. “Each year they do a short program called BodyTorque which is about giving young choreographers an opportunity,” he says. “It's something we've talked about for a couple of years and the timelines have managed to coincide so I'm really excited to be working on that. It's a short piece of about ten or 15 minutes and we're putting the ideas together now but it's something I've been looking forward to for a while.”

While the rock'n'roll influence dates back to his high school days before he discovered electronic music, his classical background has helped him cover a wide range of styles. Thayer says another influence is partner Juliet Burnett who is also involved with the Australian Ballet as a dancer and senior artist. “Juliet is incredibly supportive of what I do and can just bring such a fresh approach to things,” he says. “Often I'll be stuck on a tune and she'll come in and have a listen with a fresh perspective and apply her understanding of her art. I mean all art is essentially emotion; dancing is telling emotion through movement whereas music is telling emotion through sound and so in essence it's a very similar thing we do and having her as that inspiration is an amazing asset for me.”

Other musical endeavours aside, Thayer says he's got plenty of plans for 2014. “We'll get this next EP out hopefully around early May,” he says. “I've got the ballet project and another side project that will come to fruition by the end of the year so it's kind of a full schedule and then I guess somewhere around there we need to figure out how to go and do some shows. I can't wait to get back to Perth; I always love coming over and I'm really looking forward to coming back and seeing all those people and celebrating what a great place it is.”