Nicholas Thayer - in​:​finite : pt 1

Commissioned by Skånes Dansteater for a dance piece of the same name, in:finite is Nicholas Thayer’s vision of a world in a grain of sand, as William Blake put it. Working with Mikko Pablo on cello, and singers: Milda Deltuvaite, Aurélie Journot, Emma Gregory, Galya Sky. Thayer, a London-born, Netherlands-based composer and producer, creates a world of endlessly proliferating connections. In Thayer’s in:finite world: everything is in a process of becoming. Opposites are not antagonists, but rather partners in a never-ending synchrony.

in:finite will be released as a series of three EPs, over the next three months. 

in:finite EP 1 – 14th July 2023

Nicholas Thayer’s first EP opens with “on refracting”– a discomforting and urgent drill into the centre of the Earth, all trip-hop beats and an ill, metallic wind. In “on carrying” we are lost in unknown realms – angels flap their digital wings and sing as the light blinds. Everything is shimmering, and from far away there is a signal that we are on somebody (or something’s) radar at least – and finally, the bells do toll, for us. “on deeping” pulls back into a series of quiet pulses that twist into ancient, simple percussive beats—it’s 5am and the generator has shut down, but the beat goes on. The future is almost upon us as robots gurgle and mutter in “on oiling,” and the record finishes with “on reflecting,” where information meets noise and both decide to give up the fight to play a game with a glockenspiel instead.

Biography

Connection is at the centre of Nicholas Thayer’s work. Connecting people with places, with stories, with themselves; ‘creating a meeting place where together we can experience what it is to be’. This broad approach is reflected in all his work which is characterised by the drawing together of disparate ideas: lightness and darkness, harmony and dissonance, sound and silence.

Studying violin and piano since age four, discovering rock and roll at age twelve, and then electronic music in the mid-nineties, Thayer has had a multifaceted career. From signing with Skrillex’s label OWSLA in 2012, to sound design for Mötley Crüe shows in 2015, and synths for The Bloody Beetroots; his early path was characterised by loud noises and bright lights. Nicholas completed a master’s degree in composition for New Audiences and Innovative Practice at Prins Claus Conservatorium (NL) focussing on interdisciplinary art making, where he now also teaches. He has composed original scores for contemporary dance and ballet, augmented reality VR films, immersive music theatre and site specific installations.

In collaboration with light artist Frouke ten Velden and director Peter Leung, he created Studio Resonance, a site specific AV project.