At the age of four, Steve Nieve drew pictures of piano keys and pretended to play them. He joined Elvis Costello & the Attractions when he was 19, the start of a life that involves having to find a flight case for a Steinway Grand. He talks to us here from his Paris apartment about Stiff package tours, recording remotely, his upcoming shows with the French singer Kessada and …
… being a teenager as fond of Stravinsky as Alice Cooper and the Carpenters
… playing in a mid-‘70s Top Forty covers band
… the ad for a “rockin’ pop combo” that changed his life
… touring with Costello and Ian Dury and how he got his stage name
… playing the Thunderbirds theme as a chat show bandleader on the Last Resort
… a giant Klavins piano “that has stairs leading up the seat”
… working on Morrissey’s Kill Uncle
… the 40,000 audience that watched his online Lockdown shows
… unreliable stage pianos and the story of Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert.
Tickets here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/westhampsteadartsclub/2059256
The “About Love” album: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/about-love/1834791707
Steve’s new album: https://stevenieve.hearnow.com/piano-night-2026
Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steveprofessornieve/
Kessada’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkessada/
Help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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