Background
The son of musician Vernon Drozd, he 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. 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.
Career
He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for the Flaming Lips. He joined in 1991.
He joined in 1991 as a drummer. His thick grooves, with episodes of odd-time funk, are interspersed with straight ahead rock, mixing and jumping between various genres.
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 Indiana Master of Engineering, 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 Würmsinfluenced by prog rock, krautrock and punk rocktheir 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. 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.