A Conversation with Steve Nieve – HuffPost 10.24.13
Mike Ragogna: Hi Steve, how are you doing today?
Steve Nieve: I’m fine, it’s good to hear your voice.
MR: Yours, too, thank you sir. The title “ToGetHer,” let’s do some wordplay. You like did a groovy, “together” project; you recorded “together” with a cast of thousands; and it’s like a romantic mission, you know, “to get her.” So when you picked the material for this album did it start out with the concept of being a duet album or did you decide to make it a “together” project later?
SN: Well, I’ve always been writing songs and interested in creating songs. But when I started working on content for the album, I realized I’m not a singer, so I wanted to suggest it to a few of my friends to see who would be interested in collaborating with me. In the end, that was the thing that gave me the most pleasure, working with such great people. I just started to enjoy it so much that while some of the songs were written–not considering duets–I tried to deconstruct them a bit and try to think about them like that.
MR: So not so much, “I’m going to create a duets album.”
SN: Yes, they were created really on their own and the idea was sort of an exercise of style in a way because I wanted to present a song to someone that would be good for them to sing. I think that the ones that worked the best were the ones that were not exactly written for someone precisely.
MR: You include a track with Elvis Costello, your musical buddy for years and years. After all of these years recording with Elvis, obviously things have changed since the early days. What is it like recording with him now versus the old days?
SN: I think in the old days, we were all young and fearless. Now I think we’re even more fearless. I would say that would be the main difference. I can only speak for myself; the past is a bit of a blur to be honest. Things have changed and I feel more aware of what I’m doing now. That’s the big difference.
MR: Before we leave the Elvis territory, I just want to say, do you understand how important your early recordings with Elvis Costello & The Attractions were to a certain demo of pop culture?
SN: Well, I look into certain books about music occasionally. There’s a very good one out there by my good friend who’s made a dictionary of rock. It’s just a personal view and it’s full of his anecdotes. I do realize the group, and the group I’m still in because now, The Imposters, have been together for a huge chunk of time. We’re working with one of the masters of music, one of the great songwriters, so obviously, that’s a great feel for me to be continually involved in that.
MR: Steve, how do you approach the creative process? Does it hit you and you have to run to an instrument?
SN: Mostly, I think that I’ve been working with Elvis for so long, I’m definitely influenced by the lyric writing. Working with someone who writes such amazing lyrics all the time has definitely pushed me to be a bit more aware of lyrics. When I listen to music, I always listen to the lyrics and I tend to really love songwriters who are making interesting lyrics. I write lyrics all the time and it’s easy to do now. We’ve got our iPads and iPhones, we can write things down any time, anywhere.
MR: So you gravitate towards the lyrics.
SN: I think they made me aware of the fact that this aspect is so wonderful. I’ve been living in France for quite a number of years and it’s a whole new world of lyric writing over here. I’ve had the chance to meet different artists there. I started working with Alain Chamfort who’s singing on ToGetHer; I’m really happy that he came on board with me. He is a French composer who writes amazing melodies and a lot of Serge Gainsbourg songs have Alain Chamfort’s music. So these kinds of encounters lead you into new worlds of music.
MR: Steve, you include big names like Sting, Ron Sexsmith and Joe Sumner, but you also feature Harper Simon. How did you come across Harper?
SN: I’ll tell you, but the first three people you mentioned were involved in the opera that I wrote with Muriel Teodori that I called Welcome To The Voice, and in fact, most of the male cast, apart from Harper Simon, were involved in that opera in some way or another because we performed it once in New York and Ron Sexsmith was one of the characters. I’d met Ron many times but that’s how I really got to know him. After that, we did Welcome To The Voice at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Muriel Teodori directed it on stage and that’s how I met Joe Sumner, because he played the part of the friend and it was really incredible how he sang each night. It was a really stunning performance they did. But I bumped into Harper a lot of times at the Chateau Marmont, which is a place in America that I really adore, so I got to know him a little bit like. He was constantly hanging out at the hotel, and eventually, he asked me to play on his record. So then I worked on a song of his and then at some point, he was in Paris and I said, “Please, Harper, come and sing on one of my songs.” I love what he did. It was kind of strange, but he brought a voice to that song, “Pandemonium” that I really didn’t expect. It really added something great. I love the way he sang on that.
MR: I was trying to mimic your sound and the Farfisa came the closest I could find. This album has got to be a more personal album than not for you because it’s apparent that you have a close relationship with a lot of the people on here. Do you see all these contributions to your project as having made something much bigger than the sum of the parts?
SN: I think that part of the initial impulse to make the record for me was really because I wanted to seduce Muriel Teodori.
MR: [laughs]
SN: After that, I think I stand a much better chance of seducing her because I’ve got someone like Sting or Elvis singing on it, because I can’t sing like that.
MR: And you really did do your best, uh, ToGetHer. Ahem.
SN: Yes, that’s why it’s like that. I really love the graphics. My friend Dominic found the idea of ToGetHer, which is beautiful because he’s a Frenchman and quite often, you see in foreign languages something that the foreigner wouldn’t, I’ve noticed.
MR: And it’s great to see one of the experimental artists, Laurie Anderson, on the album.
SN: I remember when “O Superman” came out and it was fantastic. She’s always been a hero of mine. I met her because I got invited to The Century Of Song Festival, which she was performing at, and I guess it was she who invited me to be the opening part of her show. It was incredible. It’s was in this little town in Germany; she had all the little electronic gizmos and pedals and things she uses. But above all, a friendship started and each time I come to New York now, it’s great, I come and hang out with Laurie for a little while and I’m really happy that she’s on my record. I love what she’s done on that verse. She’s totally transformed it into something new. And her violin playing is just superb.
MR: I also want to throw out there other milestones for you, like Welcome To The Voice,Windows and Mumu. What do you think looking back at those works? And what are your thoughts as far as where you’ve gone musically from there to here?
SN: I think that there’s a sort of an environment of trying not to be a sort of hermit in a cave and trying to find ways of making music with other people. That’s the heart of the project. I think that’s the way that’s going. I really enjoyed when we made Welcome To The Voice, the kind of gigantic nature of collaboration with that. By the time we got to the Théâtre du Châtelet, we had an orchestra of twenty-eight pieces. We had all of these soloists, amazing singers, opera singers, and in addition to that, the whole team of people required to put that together. It was just great, you know? I like making albums like that, and I also like the solitary piano solo album. It’s going from one extreme to another.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
SN: Well one of things I think is great about the last two projects is the involvement of new artists. On this record, there’s Tall Ulyss, a new French singer, and some other young people, because they come to things from a different viewpoint than someone like me who’s been through it, making music for thirty years. Sometimes, they’ll show you something you won’t believe and it’s very exciting, you know? They bring a sort of fearless energy to things. So I love that aspect of this project, I think Tall Ulyss, for example on the first track, pushed the sound into a completely new and exciting world that I’d never have the idea to go in. The same working with Joe; I love his band, Fiction Plane, but I’d never go anywhere near that world. Just working with people from different worlds is really enlightening and exquisite.
MR: Nice. What’s on the horizon? What do you want to do next?
SN: That’s a good question because at the moment, I’m pondering. I’m just in a thinking mood. I’ve got several unfinished projects around me, like some music for orchestra and flute and things like that. With Muriel, I’ve been working on a follow-up piece for Welcome To The Voice, something that I’m committed to working on, and obviously, more piano music. I really want to spend more time now just at the piano.
Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne