DEAD RETINAS - Carrying The Weight Of Reality... (England - HardCore/MetalCore - Interview with Jack, CJ, Chris & Chris).

Hello ! Can you introduce yourself and tell us how it all began for you - your encounter with this musical universe, what appealed to you, what fascinated you and what made you want to get into music? 
Jack (guitars): Hello! Thank you for letting us in this beautiful penthouse suite you’ve got for this exclusive interview, we are eternally grateful, and appreciate the free snacks.
We are Chris (CJ), Chris (Gaduzo), Chris (Heath) and Jack (not Chris) of Dead Retinas. We all share a common drive to perform and entertain, through our shared love of the live music scenes that dominated our lives in our formative years. In our social circles, if you weren’t going to so-and-so’s gig: “Y U NOT GOING?!” 
We always endeavour to keep that energy alive, that is literally what we’re here for.

Tell me about the band... How you met - the current line-up - past experiences - and above all - WHY the need to form THIS band?
Jack (guitars): In a nutshell, Dead Retinas was founded by CJ and myself circa 2011. We have been friends since our 90’s childhood days, and were both super keen to get a band going. Fast forward to today, we have Chris & Chris on bass and drums respectively - who to be honest have been the creative powerhouses of the band for the past 8 years - and over those years we have solidified not only our collective passion for music, but also a tacit appreciation for one another, that I would not want to trade in for anything.

Describe your sound and explain why I should listen to YOUR band at all cost ?
Chris Heath (drums): You could probably describe our musical style as one that has its foundations solidly planted in 80’s Hardcore, with the bulk of the influences stemming from early/mid 2000’s Post Punk/Hardcore. If we were to dish out our CD on the street we’d liken ourselves to Cancer Bats, Every Time I Die, Gallows, Ghost Of A Thousand, with all of our weird flavours mixed in!

Lyrical and musical inspirations/influences ? How important are the lyrics for you ? Are there any specific messages or thoughts you try to develop and share through your lyrics ? 
CJ (vocals): When it comes to lyrics, I feel like I exist between two worlds: the heavy music scene and my day-to-day life as an openly gay man. That gives me experiences and perspectives that aren’t always front and centre in the conversations around heavy music, but they’re the stories I want to tell.
The EP ‘GLOOM’ is built around things that have genuinely made me feel gloomy over the past six years.
- ‘Sleeping Giants’ explores my addictive nature, particularly my dependence on the cocktail of sedatives I take just to get to sleep.
- ‘Cantilever’ came from the experience of being part of a community that, in the end, simply didn’t give a fuck about me or my partner. It stunted our growth as a couple and as individuals. I watched what I thought was a support network collapse around us. We were left on one side holding all the weight. Writing about it became a form of therapy.
- ‘F.A.O. Collarbreaker’ is about consent. I’ve been to Pride events where I’ve been inappropriately touched by both men and women. I see similar behaviour in bars all the time: people bouncing from one person to the next without a second thought as to whether their attention is wanted. Consent doesn’t stop being important because you’re in any social space, and it’s something I felt needed to be said.
- ‘Discourse Of Fools’ attempts to tackle the very real stigma that still surrounds people living with HIV. Even in 2026, someone can be completely honest about their status and instantly be treated as dangerous or unclean. Of all the songs on the EP, it’s probably the one I’m most proud of.
- Finally, ‘Blink’ was inspired by the reports of acres of land being cleared to build infrastructure for a climate conference in the Amazon rainforest. The irony is impossible to ignore. Those making the decisions often won’t be around to face the consequences of the damage they’re leaving behind.
There’s always a temptation to write any old bollocks just because it sounds good, but I’ve never been interested in that. A song has to resonate with me, or I’ll get bored of it. These songs have been written and rewritten over six years because during that time, there were ideas and subjects that stopped feeling honest. I kept asking myself the same questions: Does this still mean something to me? Do I still need to tell this story, or has the moment passed?
I’m glad I waited. I think the end result is a collection of songs that say exactly what we wanted them to.

About the band's discography... Imagine someone who doesn't know your band at all and wants to get interested in.. Which release would you recommend to start with, and why? 
Jack (guitars): Without any second thought, we would all agree that our latest release ’GLOOM’ is the best place to start. We’re fully aware that most artists would flag their latest release as the one to listen to, and like many of them we will say we have restructured our style, developed a mature approach to songwriting, and just become overall top geezers. It’s the most accurate expression of what we are as a band currently. Our earlier EP’s are interesting to listen to in hindsight, and for anyone interested in listening to a post hardcore band trying to find their place, by all means bloody go for it, it’s decent.

About your latest release ?
Jack (guitars): Our latest EP after over six years is out on 15th August 2026. We spent the bulk of 2025 recording these songs at NoStudio in Manchester, under the direction of the fantastic producer Joe Clayton. From the release date it will be available on all your favourite streaming platforms and we are truly giddy with excitement to share these tunes with you.

Future plans ?
CJ (vocals): As for the future, we’ve all got our own lives going on these days, so getting everyone in the same room to write isn’t always easy. Gaduzo and I have both just bought our first houses, Jack’s getting married very soon, and Heath’s got a couple of little ones keeping him busy. Life happens.
We’re lucky, though, because we’re genuinely close mates. We can go months without seeing each other, but as soon as we’re back in a room together it’s like no time has passed. Those kinds of relationships are pretty rare in bands, and I think that’s a big part of why Dead Retinas still works after so many years.
We’ve got plans for a few more videos, and we’re being selective about the shows we play, rather than saying yes to everything. We’re also hoping to get back into writing mode soon and keep pushing forward.
It probably doesn’t sound like the most exciting answer, but we’ve never been a band that thrives under pressure. The best music comes when we’re all just hanging out together, enjoying each other’s company and letting things develop naturally.

Your most insane dream with the band would be?
Chris (drums): Most insane dream for me would be to play Download Festival. Revisiting this year has reignited that dream. It’s often been close but just out of reach for me in previous bands, but to get on any of those stages at such an iconic festival would be amazing!
CJ (vocals): Personally, there’s one band I’d love to support above all others: Alexisonfire. That’s the dream. They’ve been my go to band bordering on a full-blown obsession ever since Watch Out! came out in 2004. Over the past 22 years, I’ve seen them around 40 times. It genuinely feels like they’ve soundtracked me growing up.Seeing our name next to theirs on a poster would be a bucket-list moment. At that point, I could say I’d completed music… and then quit!

Your BEST & WORST concert - as a band - and why ? 
Jack (Guitars): I’d say one of our collective favourites was the Manchester Punk Festival 2025 show. We co-headlined the Friday night at the glorious Bread Shed with our friends in Snatch Game. The crowd, my word, they were incredible! It was a huge turnout and the energy was everything any band could hope for. We really loved every second of that gig and I for one could not stop smirking like an idiot throughout.
Worst show? That’s a good one, I’ll take this one as well: We played a small local festival - that we shall not name - many years ago. Besides the abysmal organisation and security of the whole operation, myself and the frontman at the time had consumed way too much alcohol by the time our headline slot eventually managed to go ahead. The whole thing was a mess. It was a poorly executed event, slightly exacerbated by my poor decision to drink excessively. I’ve been a relatively good boy ever since.

Next live-appearance(s) ?
Chris (bass): We are playing a show with French blackened hardcore band Pilori in November, on a stacked bill including Still, Moonflower and OC-80. We’ll all be at the lovely Old Pint Pot in Salford 18th November!

Some words on your local scene - bands you're friends with and you'd like to name ? 
Chris (bass): We have known the members of Under for many years, and shared the stage with them numerous times. They put out a fantastic album a few months ago called What Happened in Roundwood - its a nightmarish mix of Tool, Primus, doom metal and off-kilter prog topped off with layered vocal harmonies. We got to play with a band called Dog Years also from Manchester who describe themselves as discordant sad punk, they also feature members of local mainstays Pleiades (though believe Dog Years has been around for much longer). They are finishing up recording their new EP as we speak! Not exactly local, but another band we got to play with recently was Irk from Leeds. They have been around for quite some time and recently released their second album The Seeing House which they say is "an album about the abject horror of having a nice time". They are a guitarless three-piece that play groovy, crushing noise rock for fans of The Jesus Lizard, Unsane and the like. Absolutely insane rhythm section!

What’s the question you’ve always dreamed of answering but have never been asked? Just a heads-up: I’m also waiting for the answer that goes with it...
CJ (vocals): Without making it all about me, I’m actually surprised nobody’s ever asked why I wear a harness on stage.I’ve always been drawn to sleaze aesthetics, probably thanks to bands like Turbonegro, mixed with my love of Tom of Finland’s artwork and the fringe films of the ’80s and early ’90s. When Gaz, who designed our logo and the artwork for Divine and now Gloom, heard about the antics that go on at the bear events I attend, he jokingly dared me to perform in a harness. So I did.
Now I alternate between a full leather plated harness with “Daddy Bear” across the front and a pink and black knitted “yarness”. In a way, it’s no different to a band wearing masks or corpse paint it becomes part of the uniform, part of the identity. But on a more personal level, it makes me feel confident and, dare I say it, sexy. As a 6’3”, 150kg bloke, I’ll take any opportunity to feel good about myself.
That side of me inevitably finds its way into the music too. “An Exercise in Bad Taste” from the Divine EP explores fetishism, kink and sleaze, while “FAO. (Collarbreaker)” touches on a much more important point: dressing provocatively or expressing yourself through fetish wear is never an invitation to be touched. Consent still matters, and asking first should never be a difficult concept.

Last word is yours..
STAY HYDRATED. CHEERS.