Steven Drozd

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.[1]

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.

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 album ...And Star Power, released on October 14, 2014.

In the Flaming Lips' film Christmas on Mars (2008), he plays Major Syrtis, the main character of the film.[2] Drozd has appeared on Noggin's Jack's Big Music Show, with Jon Stewart and Steve Burns.[3]

• Official Twitter page
• Drozd fansite
• Drozd's Maritime Mixtape