Nick Milligan spoke with keyboardist and co-vocalist Jim Finn about the band's sonic evolution on this year's EP, Create/Control.

Has it been a busy year for Art Vs Science so far?

We haven't had heaps of shows, but we've been busy writing and rehearsing. We've just been writing heaps and heaps of new music. We find that when we get the flow of writing together, even if those songs don't see the light of day, that just going through the motions of writing is good practice. We've also been busy doing our film clip for Creature of the Night. Dan Mac (synths and vocals) came up with the concept, storyboarded it and co-directed it. It was a lot of hard work. We shot it in Dan Mac's family's back shed and had to clear out a couple of tonnes of garbage and then we built a stage in there. It took about two weeks to clear the place out.

Even though the film clip is a bit ridiculous, it's quite fulfilling to imagine something and then have it come into reality.

There's some interesting costumes in the video and often you guys are wearing crazy outfits on stage. Are the visual aspects of the band important to you guys?

I think we've realised more and more how important it is. I think when people come and see our live show they understand the music a bit better because they see our personalities coming through. Creature of the Night is one of the first film clips where we've shown our personalities - fun and silly, but very psychedelic and weird. I think that's how we are, but all the best people are.

You're returning to the Cambridge Hotel tonight, having gone on to play much larger venues in recent years. Are you looking forward to playing smaller venues on this tour?

Yeah, we really are actually. Obviously it's a lot of fun playing to huge crowds at festivals, but you have a much more intimate connection with the crowd [in a smaller venue]. Even to the point where you can hear people saying things to you from the audience and engaging with that, if you choose to. Or being able to high five someone in the front row during a song. They're very different beasts, playing festivals or smaller rooms, but both are really important.

Is the current songwriting process in the band similar to how it was in the beginning?

Yeah, it is. But we've become more confident as songwriters and as individuals. We had a break for a while and during that time I had my side project, Vydamo. Before that I didn't have the confidence to think that I could write a song by myself. But once I released the whole album of songs I'd written it gave me more confidence to bring more fully formed ideas to [Art Vs Science]. We've learned not to get precious about our ideas and not get offended or emotional if someone else doesn't like your idea. We've become more mature in our approach to our music and each other's perceptions.

You guys released your new EP Create/Destroy earlier this year. Will the next release be a full album?

We're still figuring out what we're going to do as far as releases go. We might do another EP towards the end of the year, or an album or maybe just a single. At the moment it is probably an EP. If you have a couple of good singles, I think people are more likely to buy an EP and hear those extra songs. Not all the time, but sometimes all the effort you put into an album you feel it was a little bit wasted. You realise there's songs on the album that people aren't going to hear because they just wanted the singles.

When writing the new material for Create/Destroy did you have an idea of how you wanted it to sound?

We knew that we wanted to evolve. We didn't want to keep doing the same thing, you can't just shout things at people and hope they keep dancing (laughs). Originally we wanted to engage people into a party, but now we want to engage their emotions as well and take them on a journey both mentally and spiritually, if they'll come with us. 

Art Vs Science play The Cambridge Hotel tonight.

Limited tickets are available on the door.

Create/Control is out now.