Steven Drozd

Early life

The son of musician Vernon Drozd, he was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Richmond and Rosenberg, Texas with three brothers and a sister. From the age of ten, he played drums with his father's polka band and later played piano in various country honky tonk groups. After high school, Drozd moved to Oklahoma City and performed, mainly on drums, with a number of underground bands in the area. He joined The Flaming Lips in 1991. Steven Drozd moved to downtown Houston in 1988. He lived in an apartment with Paul Papproth (now known as Paul Caldwell). They called the apartment the "Rock and Roll Motel". Paul sang in a band called Brown Paper Dog. Steven joined Monster Zero and played drums.In 1989, Steven moved to Austin with Monster Zero.It was there that he met and joined Janis Eighteen.In 1990,Janis Eighteen relocated to Norman, Oklahoma. Paul hooked up with Steven again and they shared a room in a house known as Alien Studios.Steven was briefly in a band called Downer. Steven formed 9mm Dilaudid and The Whisper Ants with Paul. At the same time, he joined The Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips

Drozd joined The Flaming Lips in 1991 as a drummer. While his style is deeply influenced by the big drum sounds of the 1970s, his time spent with his father's polka band helped him develop a sense of delicacy and syncopation, allowing for transitions through an articulate and dynamic touch. His thick grooves, with episodes of odd-time funk, are interspersed with straight ahead rock, mixing and jumping between various genres. In 2002, when drummer and percussionist Kliph Scurlock joined to the band, Drozd assumed the guitar, and he also plays keyboards, bass and drums, and sings.

Other ventures

He has appeared on a number of recordings of other artists including Elliott Smith's From a Basement on the Hill, Jay Farrar's Sebastopol and ThirdShiftGrottoSlack and Steve Burns' Songs for Dustmites. He worked again with Burns on a children's psychedelic music project called STEVENSTEVEN. Drozd is featured on online release of Cake's B-sides and Rarities (2007). He is the songwriting/musician half of YOU IN ME, a Neil Diamond inspired duo, with Alan Novey. Drozd writes the songs and Novey sings them as a tribute to Diamond. They have released a 7" inch double A-side with the songs "Hot Coffee" and "The Drifter" on the Flights of Fancy label.

In 2013 Drozd created and directed a volunteer group of music students at ACMUCO called The Mutating Cell Ensemble, whose goal is to experiment with polyrhythm and repetition. They have performed once. The artist Imagene Peise and Christmas LP "Atlas Eets Christmas" is a collection of elevator music-style covers and originals, culled from the home recordings of Drozd with the imagery and myth being from the imagination of Wayne Coyne. Drozd and Coyne now have a second group together called Electric Würms- influenced by prog rock, krautrock and punk rock- their goal is to explore the outer reaches of traditional "rock" music as well performing Flaming Lips deeper cuts. Nashville-based Linear Downfall completes the ensemble. Drozd composed and performed on the song "Mattress Warehouse" by Foxygen, off their new album ...And Star Power, released October 14, 2014.

Film productions

In the Flaming Lips' film Christmas on Mars (2008), he plays Major Syrtis, the main character of the film. Drozd has appeared on Noggin's Jack's Big Music Show, with Jon Stewart and Steve Burns.