Zp Theart
ZP "Zippy" Theart (born May 27, 1975 in Clanwilliam, South Africa) is the former lead vocalist for DragonForce.(1999-2010)
Theart joined the band after band mates Herman Li and Sam Totman saw his advertisement in a recording studio they were both using at the time. Herman said that "He was the first guy we met who could actually sing what he said he could".
According to Theart's DragonForce profile, his idols are "Bon Jovi", "Helloween", "Judas Priest", "Point Blank", "Metallica", "Megadeth", "Skid Row", "Slayer ", "Tesla", "80's hard rock", "soft rock", "glam rock", etc.
Contrary to popular belief, ZP does not stand for anything, and his actual name that is written on his birth certificate is ZP Theart.
Theart also sang in the Sam Totman's "side project" Shadow Warriors, under the name "Naoki".
ZP also plays acoustic guitar, as mentioned on his profile on the DragonForce website, which was removed after he left the band in 2010.
Theart's vocal style is very much like that of Michael Kiske, employing a powerful operatic vocal style to soar over Dragonforce's speed and volume and using his extremely high vocal range to complement the extremely epic feel of Dragonforce's songs. Theart sometimes utilizes high-pitched melodic shrieks as a kickoff beginning to songs (as heard in Fury of the Storm), or as a conclusion to end a song with as much power as it started with (as heard in Operation Ground and Pound). ZP's voice is a relatively rare voice-type among men, known as countertenor in classical terms. This voice type allows him to sing comfortably in the range of female altos and sopranos, while still allowing him to sing comfortably in a lower range.
Without being able to say when exactly he started singing "Since I can remember I guess..." this curly haired frontman has been doing styles ranging from Blues, Thrash & Rock to Metal. Take this experience, plus an extremely high vocal range, combine it with an endless amount of energy, and you end up with: ZP Theart, the man upfront centre rocking the masses, flanked by a fierce instrummental attack and backed by a groinchurning rhythm section that is DRAGONFORCE! When there's time to spare, you'll occasionaly catch him messing around on the old 6-string accoustic, but he mostly devotes his time to writing lyrics and melodies. ZP has further built his experience being part of various projects on and off stage, as well as in the studio.
Musical Influences: Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, Skid Row [for whom he has become the lead singer after his departure from DragonForce], Tesla, 80's hard rock, soft rock, glam rock etc. Anything providing it's got nice melodies and it's played on real instruments!
Signature Stage Moves:
Fucking Swearing!
Main Live Equipment:
A bottle of Jack
Electro-Voice Rev Wireless Microphones
Shure In-Ear Monitors