Bentley Robles and ZEE MACHINE are the truly life changing duo that you didn’t realise were missing in your life. After viral hits like See Me Naked and LOCK ME UP! lit up drag stages and queer playlists worldwide, fans wanted more. So the boys gave us a band: TEARS & GEARZ, a sonic lovechild of The 1975, Wham! and every messy, euphoric night you’ve ever had in a gay bar.

Their debut single DELUSIONAL is flirty and gloriously unhinged-a perfect mirror to their unapologetic aesthetic, and their debut EP FATHER FIGURE FANTASY is just SO GOOD and really does raise the bar for queer pop! With over 20 million streams between them and a sold-out international tour already under their belt, TEARS & GEARZ are kind of a big deal.

In this exclusive interview, I sat down with Bentley and ZEE to talk about queer identity, creative chaos and why heartbreak sounds better with synths. We laughed and we got deeeep. Whether you’re nursing a crush or dancing through your healing era, TEARS & GEARZ are here to soundtrack your life!

For those who haven’t stumbled across their new fave supergroup yet-who exactly are TEARS & GEARZ?

Z: We’re bad. We’re strange. We’re delusional.

We’re your favourite supergroup's favourite supergroup. We combined forces to create a musical experience you’d never get on your own.

Z: It’s been about three years now I think. Honestly just hustling in the independent pop scene you kind of come across everyone at some point and some connections stick and some don’t. But you definitely noticed the ones that stand out and I think we saw something special in each other and brought that out over a series of features on each other‘s projects. The rest is herstory.

Bentley, y​ou popped your festival cherry at Mighty Hoopla, was it everything you imagined and more?!

B: I feel like I was born in the wrong country. I only went to London for the first time last year, but coming back a second time, it genuinely feels like a place I belong and that’s due to the reception, the people, the humour, and their proven track record to be ahead of the curb when it comes to pop stars.

Zee-please tell me you heard back from Gaga reheating your nachos?! I need closure.

Z: Not much closure to be had there, I fear. Other than a lesson in internet vitality: you just never know what bits are going to catch on and it’s rarely the ones you expect.

Hav you both always been into pop music?

B: I am THE pop aficionado. Not only was pop music made for me, I was made for pop music.

Z: These days I live and breathe pop music but growing up I fully thought I was going to be a rock guitar god. But pop found me. But you can still hear it in some of the stuff I write.

Got any legendary icons you worship and random inspo like elevator music, video game soundtracks or rogue cartoon theme songs that secretly shaped your vibe?

B: Paulina Rubio. The glitz, the glamour, the delusion. In my humble Mexican opinion she is the epitome of a pop star.

Oh and the Pokémon theme song taught me how to write an anthemic pop chorus.

Z: Is it too cliche and gay of me to say Gaga? Like she seems like an obvious choice but there’s just something about her approach to stardom and celebrity and iconography that completely changed the way in thought about being a pop star. I was like oh yeah THAT'S what I wanna do.

Your new EP FATHER FIGURE FANTASY slaps! What’s the story behind the title?

Z: Thank you so much! When we were first brainstorming about the idea of forming our own sort of band, our vision for it would be like Wham! If we were both George Michael. And then when we were writing the song GEORGE MICHAEL we were dropping little George-related Easter eggs here and there in the lyrics and FATHER FIGURE FANTASY just rolled off the tongue nicely in the chorus and we kind of couldn’t get that phrase out of our head.

I imagine this will be a hard one....do you both have a favourite song on the EP? The one you secretly play on repeat or feel extra proud of?

B: Delusional. Hands down. I would have never written on my own, and I feel proud to have it in my catalogue. Hearing the fans' reaction to it on tour cemented it as my favourite.

Z: The hardest question you can ask an artist. I feel like I have a different favourite for every show, but something about Same Tears Twice feels so universal and relatable and instantly grabs you. It’s been such a good opening number on tour.

GEORGE MICHAEL is such a standout track from the EP. Can you share the story behind the song and what inspired the official music video?

B: When we wrote GM, we wanted to write a song about the first ever gay man. Solely for educational purposes.

Zee and I are both in an era of our lives where our queerness and authenticity feels fully formed, and GEORGE MICHAEL is a celebration of that.

Annnnddd, we’re a little freaky.

The video is a full homage to Wham! and what we imagined a George Michael visual would look like in 2025.

And what about DELUSIONAL?

Z: The song is about being so delusional about your relationship ending that you simply aren’t going to let it happen. Definitely not based on reality but we wanted something fun, funky, and instantly memorable to sing along with. As for the music video, just picture the craziest double date around Brooklyn you can imagine.

Witnessing rising queer voices in pop music and pop culture feels like the kind of cultural shift dreams are made of for a 13-year-old gay boy growing up in a suburban Berkshire town in England (aka me) ha, how does that resonate with you as LGBTQ+ artists and how powerful is it to not only witness that evolution but to actually be part of that and showing up as your authentic selves while helping rewrite the narrative with your own sound and story?

Z: I feel like this might not be the answer people are hoping for….but being an “LGBTQ+ artist” really wasn’t something I thought about very much. And I think in a way that might be what makes me love it so much, because I’ve been lucky enough to embrace my queerness as one of my favourite things about me. And in doing that I think it shines through the music in an authentic way and connects with the people who need to hear it the most.

B: I’m so busy doing all of this that I often forget that this is what I dreamed of growing up.

There was no one like Zee and I for me to aspire to be, yet here we are in 2025 surrounded by so many talented queer artists, paving the way for the future generation.

We’ve always been the influence. We’ve always been the culture. Now we’re just getting recognized for it.

You’ve just wrapped the 777 TOUR-and can I just say, that concept? Chef’s kiss. Seven songs each from TEARS & GEARZ, Bentley, and Zee? Iconic. Did you love tour life and will there be a UK leg?

B: I love to tour. I love the UK. That’s all I’m going to say right now. Zee?

Z: yes, *Michael Jackson voice* I love to tour. We always feel the call of the UK pulling us back and they’ve shown us so much love. Who knows….you might be seeing us sooner than you think.

Follow TEARS & GEARZ to stay in the loop and FATHER FIGURE FANTASY is on all streaming platforms now.

📸Trevor Paul

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Written by

Dale Melita
Dale Melita
Scene's head pop critic/pop culture enthusiast, living in Brighton. Since 2021, I write a silly monthly column, sometimes interview artists, occasionally review theatre and listen to pop music daily!

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