Steven Drozd
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| Steven Drozd | |
|---|---|
 Photo by Josh Welch. St Louis, MO 9-17-10 |
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| 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 multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for The Flaming Lips.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
The son of musician Vernon Drozd, he grew up in 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. While attending Eisenhower High School in Lawton, Oklahoma, he played percussion in the school's marching and symphonic bands. After discovering punk rock via the "Repo Man" soundtrack he formed a new wave trio, "The Defect Files" with bassist Kelly Colbert and drummer Todd Balcom.
[edit] 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 staff 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 vocals, often in falsetto. He recently performed live Keith Emerson's iconic "Lucky Man" Moog solo on an IPad, using an unknown mono synth app. He wouldn't confirm if he utilized the Animoog or the Korg iMS20 app.
[edit] Gear
[edit] Live
[edit] 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]
[edit] Keyboards
Roland EP707
Korg SV-1 (Soft Bulletin shows)
[edit] 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)
[edit] Effects
Boss Corporation GT-8 (guitar)
Line6 DL4 (guitar)
Line6 FM4 (guitar)
Boss GigaDelay (keyboards)
[edit] Other
Bebot/iPhone (synthesizer sound on "Is David Bowie Dying")
unnamed synth app/iPad (synth solo on live cover of Lucky Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer song))
[edit] Microphones
Vocals: Shure Beta57a
Guitars: Shure Beta57a and Sennheiser e906
Keyboard DIs: Radial J48
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. Steven is featured on online release of Cake's B-sides and Rarities (2007).
Drozd recently 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Personal life
He is married to Becky Stokesberry and they have a son, Daniel James Drozd (born September 22, 2005), and a daughter, Charlotte Michelle Drozd (born February 26, 2008).
Drozd is currently working on a novella, his first real venture into published creative writing. The title is "Last Dose" and, according to him, is a fictional tale of an embittered orphan seeking revenge for the overdose death of his mother.
[edit] 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
