Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
08:25 - First band
10:31 - The Attractions
14:10 - Becoming Steve Nieve
17:45 - Taking off
19:20 - Being Band Leader on the Jonathan Ross Show
23:35 - Kessada
35:11 - The best piano
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Help us to keep the conversation going: patreon.com/wordinyourear
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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: tickettailor.com/events/westhampsteadartsclub/2059256
The “About Love” album: Music music.apple.com/gb/album/about-love/1834791707
Steve’s new album: stevenieve.hearnow.com/piano-night-2026
Steve’s Instagram: instagram.com/steveprofessornieve
Kessada’s Instagram: instagram.com/iamkessada
stevenieve.com
kessada.com
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
08:25 - First band
10:31 - The Attractions
14:10 - Becoming Steve Nieve
17:45 - Taking off
19:20 - Being Band Leader on the Jonathan Ross Show
23:35 - Kessada
35:11 - The best piano
----
Help us to keep the conversation going: patreon.com/wordinyourear
----
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: tickettailor.com/events/westhampsteadartsclub/2059256
The “About Love” album: Music music.apple.com/gb/album/about-love/1834791707
Steve’s new album: stevenieve.hearnow.com/piano-night-2026
Steve’s Instagram: instagram.com/steveprofessornieve
Kessada’s Instagram: instagram.com/iamkessada
stevenieve.com
kessada.com
