Steven Drozd
| Steven Drozd | |
|---|---|
 Steven Drozd at ACM@UCO Performance Lab taken by Josh Welch, Apr 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steven Gregory Drozd |
| Born | June 11, 1969 |
| Origin | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Occupations | Musician, actor |
| Instruments | Guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, vocals |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Warner Bros. |
| Associated acts | The Flaming Lips |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson EDS-1275 | |
Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969, Houston, Texas) is an American musician. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for The Flaming Lips.
Early life
The son of musician Vernon Drozd, he grew up in Richmond and Rosenberg, Texas (outside of Houston) 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. He joined The Flaming Lips in 1991.
The Flaming Lips
He 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 taste 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.
Drozd uses a melody writing technique he and Wayne Coyne call "forced random" composing, wherein a piece of manuscript paper is turned upside down and drawn on with as little thought as possible, then turned back correctly with the dots on the staves given rhythmic values and the scale defined. He employed this method on the solo project, "Headphones Theme From Seemingly Infinity" and a few Flaming Lips songs, most notably the melancholy instrumental tag on "35,000 feet of despair" from Zaireeka.
Noted influences include Czech polka, John Bonham, Ringo Starr, Nigel Olsson, Mac McNeilly, Dale Crover and Stevie Wonder.
During live performances, Drozd typically plays lead guitar and keyboards, often alternating between the two during the same song. He also sings background and occasionally lead vocals, often in falsetto.
Gear
Live
Guitars
1967 Fender Jazzmaster (stock bridge pickup replaced with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup by Wayne Coyne)
"Customized" single neck Epiphone G 1275
'60s Vintage Supro single cut [1]
Keyboards
Roland EP707
Teenage Engineering OP-1
Akai iPad controller
Korg SV-1 (Soft Bulletin shows)
Amplifiers
4x Roland Corporation KC-550 Keyboard Mixing Amplifiers (2 for keyboards, 2 for guitars)
2x Roland JC-120 Amplifiers (1 for keyboards, 1 for guitars)
Effects
Boss Corporation GT-8 (guitar)
Moogerfooger Ring Modulator (guitar)
Line6 DL4 (guitar)
Line6 FM4 (guitar)
Boss GigaDelay (keyboards)
Other
Bebot/iPhone (synthesizer sound on "Is David Bowie Dying")
Korg iMS-20/iPad
Sylo Synth/iPad (choir sounds on The Terror)
Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano digital synthesiser used on The Terror sessions and on The Sun Blows Up Today.
Microphones
Vocals: Shure Beta57a
Guitars: Shure Beta57a and Sennheiser e906
Keyboard DIs: Radial J48
Studio
His drum kit includes vintage Rogers drums, and 1970s Ludwig Supraphonic chrome snares.
His home studio/recording gear includes a 1967 Gibson 330, 1967 Gibson Firebird, 1966 Fender XII, 1963 Fender VI, 1972 Fender Telecaster Deluxe, 1980 Ovation Viper, 1980 Ovation Magnum Bass, Fender Villager 12 string acoustic, Roland EP-707, among various other keyboards and effects pedals.
Other musical ventures
Besides his work with 'The Lips', he heads a side-project, The Paris Gun, where he plays guitar, keyboards, and provides vocals. 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 is currently working again with Burns on a children's psychedelic music project called STEVENSTEVEN. Steven is featured on online release of Cake's B-sides and Rarities (2007).
In 2009 Drozd recorded and released a single with Maynard James Keenan of the Elton John song "Rocket Man" as part of his soundtrack for the documentary The Heart Is a Drum Machine'.
Drozd is also 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 he 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.
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 Daily Show host Jon Stewart, and original Blue's Clues host Steve Burns.
External links
- Official Flaming Lips site
- Official Twitter page
- Steven Drozd Fans
- The Steven Drozd Appreciation Club (not currently being updated)
- Steven Drozd's Maritime Mixtape
- Official Paris Gun site (not currently being updated)
- Steven Drozd discography at MusicBrainz
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