Oklahoma City, OK · emo · post-hardcore · midwest-emo

Ben Quad

2 upcoming festivals ↓

Fifth-wave emo at its most frantic — tapped riffs and throat-shredding payoffs in equal measure, from a band that treats catharsis as a competitive sport.

Ben Quad formed in Oklahoma City in 2018, taking their name from Ben Quadinaros, a minor Star Wars pod-racer, a joke that undercuts the seriousness often attached to emo revival bands. The lineup is built around Sam Wegrzynski on vocals and guitar, Henry Shields on vocals and bass, Edgar Viveros on guitar and Isaac Young on drums.

Their music combines the tapped, interlocking guitar lines associated with Midwest emo with the speed and shouted vocals of post-hardcore and pop punk, often shifting between quiet passages and abrupt, loud climaxes within a single song. The band records and tours regularly within the DIY punk network, and their live performances are known for their intensity and short, densely packed sets.

Their debut album, "I'm Scared That's All There Is", released in 2022, set out the frantic, start-stop template the band has built on since, pairing melodic guitar interplay with sudden bursts of screamed vocals. A second album, "Wisher", followed in November 2025, announced with the single "It's Just A Title" and extending that same mix of quiet and loud across a full record.

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emopost-hardcoremidwest-emo