Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969) is an American musician and actor. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for

the Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

Electric Würms ''Electric Würms'' are an American band. The band is a collaboration between The Flaming Lips members Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne and Nashville, TN band Linear Downfall.Kyle Fowle. Aug 19, 2014Electric Würms is the Flaming Lips side project we di ...

, and other projects.

Early life

Drozd was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and grew up in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

Rosenberg, Texas Rosenberg is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County. The population was 38,282 at the 2020 census, up from 30,61 ...

, with three brothers and a sister. He attended George Junior High & BF Terry High School. His father, Vernon, was a member of the

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

band Vernon Drozd and the Texas Brass. At the age of ten, he began playing drums with his father's band and later played piano in various country

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

groups. After high school, Drozd moved to Oklahoma City and performed, mainly on drums, with a number of underground bands in the area.

The Flaming Lips

Drozd joined the Flaming Lips in 1991 as a drummer. While his style is influenced by the drum sounds of the 1970s, his time spent with his father's polka band helped him develop a sense of delicacy and syncopation. His thick grooves, with episodes of odd-time funk, are interspersed with straight-ahead rock, mixing various genres. In 1999, while touring

The Soft Bulletin ''The Soft Bulletin'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released by Warner Bros. Records on May 17, 1999, in the United Kingdom, and on June 22, 1999, in the United States. The album was released to widespread accla ...

, Drozd decided to assume guitar duties as well as keyboards and backing vocals, using his drum tracks during live performances, but he still drums on the studio albums to this day.

Other ventures

He is the songwriting/musician half of You in Me, a

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

-inspired duo, with Alan Novey on vocals. Drozd writes the songs, and he and Novey perform them as a tribute to Diamond. He and Steve Burns created the band StevenSteven, a children's psychedelic music project. The artist Imagene Peise is an

elevator music Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in rooms where many people come together (that is, with no intention whatsoever to listen to music), and during telephone calls when placed on ...

-style covers and originals, culled from the home recordings of Drozd with the imagery and myth being from the imagination of

Wayne Coyne Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist, theremin player and songwriter for the band the Flaming Lips. Early life Coyne was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United Stat ...

. Drozd and Coyne have a second group together called Electric Würms, with Drozd taking the lead role in the band. 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.

Contributing work

Drozd has appeared on a number of recordings of other artists, including

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

's ''

From a Basement on the Hill ''From a Basement on the Hill'' is the sixth and final studio album by the American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Recorded from 2000 to 2003, and faced with multiple delays due to Smith's personal problems that resulted in his death, it was rel ...

'',

Jay Farrar Jay Farrar (born December 26, 1966) is an American songwriter and musician currently based in St. Louis. A member of two critically acclaimed music groups, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, he began his solo music career in 2001. Beyond his estab ...

's ''Sebastopol'' and ''ThirdShiftGrottoSlack'' and

Steve Burns ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

' ''

Songs for Dustmites ''Songs for Dustmites'' is the debut album by American musician, actor and former ''Blue's Clues'' host Steve Burns. It was released on August 12, 2003, by PIAS America. The album was produced by Dave Fridmann, member of alternative rock band Me ...

''. Drozd is featured on the online release of

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

's ''B-sides and Rarities'' (2007). 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. Drozd composed and performed on the song "Mattress Warehouse" by

Foxygen Foxygen is an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs. History R ...

, off their album '' ...And Star Power'', released on October 14, 2014.

Film work

In the Flaming Lips' film ''

Christmas on Mars ''Christmas on Mars'' is a 2008 independent psychological science fiction film from the alternative rock band the Flaming Lips, written and directed by the band's frontman, Wayne Coyne, and featuring the entire band in the cast, as well as many ...

'' (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 Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

and

. In 2020, he scored the TV series ''

Moonbase 8 ''Moonbase 8'' is an American comedy television series created and written by Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, Jonathan Krisel and John C. Reilly, starring Armisen, Heidecker and Reilly in the lead roles. It premiered on November 8, 2020, on Showt ...

''.131. Dr. Michael Greger, Steven Drozd (The Flaming Lips), Skinner, Mikey Kampmann
Podcasts.apple.com

Discography

Solo

Imagene Peise

You in Me

Electric Würms

StevenSteven

References

External links

Drozd fansite

Drozd's Maritime Mixtape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drozd, Steven 1969 births Living people American multi-instrumentalists The Flaming Lips members People from Houston Musicians from Oklahoma 20th-century American drummers American male drummers People from Richmond, Texas People from Rosenberg, Texas