Millions of musicians write and produce songs daily, most of those never making it onto the radio. On Spotify alone, only 20% of artists reach more than 50 monthly listeners. However, among these musicians are thousands of hidden gems, some of them closer than you may think.
One such band is made up of Santiago Fitzgibbon, Charles Whitney, and Benji Wagner. A few months ago, the three musicians created the project that’s now making it onto stages and whispered throughout hallways from Fitzgibbon’s Stoughton High School to Whitney and Wagner’s Oregon High School: Bean Taco.
Previously, Fitzgibbon and Whitney were part of a different band called With Empathy and Compassion. However, that band lacked the momentum that the pair were hoping to achieve musically.
“We were not making that much progress. We were kind of like, just messing around,” Fitzgibbon says. However, a performance opportunity arose when Fitzgibbon started planning to host a birthday party – the perfect first audience. So, he proposed the idea of writing and performing a few songs, just for fun.
“No one in the band was down for that besides Charles and I. So then we got together like a week before the party and just made like three songs,” Fitzgibbon says.
Although the decision to perform at that event was lighthearted and not meant to be a serious performance, it was good enough to spark a passion to keep performing between Fitzgibbon and Whitney – one that unfortunately didn’t extend to the rest of With Empathy and Compassion.
“There was this awkward point where we’re in between With Empathy and Compassion and then Bean Taco. We kind of subconsciously stopped rehearsing with With Empathy and Compassion…we’re all still friends, but that’s when Charles and I really got into Bean Taco,” Fitzgibbon says.
Leaving With Empathy and Compassion wasn’t a concrete decision, nor was it one that Fitzgibbon and Whitney were excited to make.
“Discontinuing With Empathy and Compassion was kind of sad because I love Coral and Alex, and we were all very excited about it initially, but it also made sense because we didn’t work as well together, and we were all kind of feeling that,” Whitney says.
However, the end of With Empathy and Compassion was the start of something new – something that would take the two remaining members’ talents and bring them further than ever before.
“After that show thing, I vividly remember telling Charles like, ‘Hey, Charles, we should make this a side project. We should really get into this,” Fitzgibbon says.
Fitzgibbon had the drums and vocals covered, and Charles played guitar, but they needed one final element before they could bring Bean Taco to its full potential.
“We were like…okay, well, we need a bassist. So we posted on our stories like – ‘Hey, play bass for us!’ And this girl slid up, and she said, ‘I know one of my friends plays bass, they go to Oregon,’” Fitzgibbon says.
Enter Benji Wagner, the third member of Bean Taco. After being introduced to each other, the first two members invited him out to rehearse with them, and they immediately hit it off.
“He was a pretty good fit. We’ve kind of been jamming out and making music since then,” says Fitzgibbon.
The beginning of Bean Taco was easy – the group fit together musically easily, and there was much more chemistry compared to With Empathy and Compassion.
“Starting Bean Taco felt very natural because I think me and Nick write and play very well together, and adding Benji also felt very natural, and now we work great with him,” Whitney says.

Wait, what did they call their band?
“Every time I tell people that our band is called Bean Taco, they either say ‘that’s awesome,’ or they just give me a weird look,” Santiago says. “Me, my friend Coral, and my friend Sammy. We’re at this Mexican restaurant, and we were thinking about band names, and I really could not think of any. So, I ordered a Bean Taco. And we were just, you know, making random names, and then Coral was like, ‘Why don’t you call your band Bean Taco?’ I was like, that’s amazing. So I hit up Charles. I was like, ‘Hey, we should call the band Bean Taco!’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m down.’”

After they got the group together, Bean Taco promptly started making music. They put in a great effort to keep it experimental and varied. They try not to stick to any one sound, as they enjoy having ambiguity with their brand.
“Another reason why we have the name Bean Taco is that we kind of want to throw people off because we don’t have a genre, specifically. There’s death metal bands called like, ‘Endless Nightmares,’ then you’re like ‘Oh, this is a metal band.’ But when you say Bean Taco, you don’t know what kind of music [they’ll be].”
An ambiguous sound comes with a large blend and variety of musical influences.
“I am inspired by all of the music I listen to, and I think anyone who makes music should be. And I listen to a lot of music. But my favorite all-time artist would probably be Prince, he is genuinely amazing,” Whitney says.
“I’m totally kind of trying to just like, not have a specific sound. We are literally just playing anything that we think sounds cool. Definitely like metal though – we’re on like the metal side, but we definitely have songs that are just more chill,” Fitzgibbon says.
In addition, Fitzgibbon credits bands such as Dystopia and Acid Bath for influencing Bean Taco’s sound, as well as other bands that one might not expect them to be inspired by, such as No Doubt and The Cranberries.
After just a few short months of writing songs as Bean Taco, the band has already done their second show. Although Whitney has performed onstage since he was young, the other two didn’t have onstage experience. However, just these two performances have been enough time for growth in terms of stage performance.
The first performance, the birthday show on May 22, 2023, was the catalyst for the band’s formation, but not their best presence.
“I was extremely nervous because it was my first time ever playing drums in front of an audience. Charles has his solo stuff, so he’s always been performing in front of people. But because that was my first time, I was extremely nervous. And I messed up a bunch of times, but it was still good, I would say,” Fitzgibbon says.
Because of the impromptu nature of that event, and the fact that they were short a bassist, it did not display Bean Taco’s full talents.
“I think compared to my first performance I am definitely better at interacting with the audience and more comfortable moving around and doing dumb **** on stage. I also think my singing has improved. I’ve never really had any stage fright or anything like that, though,” Whitney says.
Bean Taco’s most recent show, a backyard gig at Fitzgibbon’s house on Sept. 2, had an amazing turnout. Between the bigger audience, the more experienced musicians, and the more relaxed atmosphere, it’s safe to say that their most recent show was a step up from the first.
“I would say [Sept. 2] would be our debut show. Just because we had the name Bean Taco, we had a bassist, and it felt like…that was the first time we’re like, ‘Okay, this is our band.’ It felt totally like, okay, we’re being talked about – this is our music,” Fitzgibbon says.
During the September 2 show, Fitzgibbon was overheard exclaiming how many people there were. People came from areas far outside of Stoughton and the reality of how far Bean Taco’s reach had gotten was realized.
“I totally tried to get a bunch of people to show up. I DM’d random people on Instagram. And for some reason, they showed up. But yeah, I think there were about 75 people that actually came. But it was crazy, like there were people on my roof and everything – yeah, it was awesome,” Fitzgibbon says.
As for right now, Bean Taco is focused on making new music and preparing for more shows. Most recently, they played a Halloween show alongside bands such as Rig Time at the Edgerton Teen Center on Oct. 28. They hope to continue building their sound, and eventually put music up on streaming services.
Looking years into the future, Whitney has decided that music will likely be where he takes his life professionally. However, Fitzgibbon thinks that where he takes music in the future depends on how professionalism changes his relationship with music.
“I think that music is fun. And if becoming professional at it takes the fun and creativity out of it, then definitely no, but for right now I feel like I’m at the goal I want. I feel like I’m definitely just doing stuff for fun,” Fitzgibbon says.
The reception of Bean Taco so far has been overall very positive. It’s helped Santiago and the other band members find new people, and it’s a way to bring fun to the Stoughton community.
“There were a lot of people who I know that go to this school that went to the show that I literally didn’t know of until they came to the show, which was pretty awesome,” Fitzgibbon says.
“And I think that’s kind of like the whole point of…our band and music is just to bring random people together and just have fun.”

But wait! There’s more!
In addition to being in Bean Taco, Whitney also has a solo project called Buster Sales. “I am always writing and recording, and hopefully, I can teach the band some of the new stuff before these Halloween shows. Listen to the new Buster Sales EP ‘woah dude, totally punk rock man,’ it’s on every streaming platform and whatever, and it’s really awesome,” he said.

About an hour away, the Monroe-based band Ira is creating similarly inspired music and has been doing so for the past two years. The idea for the band came about in 2021, in guitarist and singer Jack Tran’s basement.
“Ira started with us four in our vocalist’s basement, messing around and playing instruments. And then we started covering songs we liked. And then, it gradually turned into what it is right now,” said drummer Sam Lever.
Like many projects, the passion was there from the start, but it took a while for the band to get off its feet.
“It was a mutual ‘we should keep doing this,’ but we really didn’t play shows until July 2022,” said Tran.
Once they had decided to make the project official, they needed to form the band’s identity. (Note: It’s imperative that their band’s name be spelled in lowercase, to avoid confusion with the terrorist organization).
“We juggled around some earlier names, and we landed on Ira because it’s the other guitarist’s dog’s name,” said Tran.
When it comes to sound, Ira has lots of musical influences with varying sounds that blend into one unique project.
“My personal musical inspirations (for the band at least) are The Strokes, Deftones, Queens of the Stone Age, and Descendants. But I listen to so much music, this honestly could change in a week,” Tran said.
Ira’s songwriting process is similar to Bean Taco’s in that the band usually shares responsibility, but there are exceptions.
“Usually it’ll start with one of us coming up with an idea, and then if we all like it we make it into a fully fleshed out song. We have some songs that really only one or two of us wrote. But then we’ll have other songs where we all had an idea and started writing what we liked,” Lever said.
After a year of keeping the idea for the band in the back of their minds, they finally got together to play a show.
“Our first performance as a band was at Jack’s dad’s house for a show on July 2 [2022]. We only played covers, but overall [it was] pretty enjoyable,” Tran said.
Just because the band had never shown their talents as one unit before doesn’t mean this was their first time onstage. Tran has been doing theatre for years, Lever has been playing various instruments since he was 5, and the other members have also had previous music experience.
Even though the members had been performing individually for a while, coming together and sharing the music they’d created for the first time was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience for all of them.
“I could tell that my bandmates were experiencing a heavy amount of nerves. But the second we all came in on the first song, I felt extremely natural, felt no nerves, and in my element for sure,” Lever said.
“We’ve definitely improved as a tighter band, and my presence as a frontman has improved as well,” Tran said.
Over a year after that, Ira came to Stoughton to participate in the Sept. 2 show at Santiago’s house. Lever commented that the experience of playing a show for a mixed audience of fans and friends was “wildly different” than playing a smaller show for family.
“The crowd demographic was a lot different, we were playing original songs whereas our first shows were exclusively covers. It was very stressful, with Ira passively primarily manning the production of the show. Sound, lights, organizing, and setting up for three bands [themselves, Bean Taco, and Buster Sales] completely independently. But it was also very rewarding,” Lever said.
The band would go on to share the stage with Bean Taco about a month later at the Oct. 28th Edgerton Teen Center show, which shared much of the same audience, but with a few new faces in the crowd, and a new venue.
Despite the success of their live performances, Ira doesn’t have any recorded music yet, so high on their to-do list is to get something recorded and on streaming services. Sam Lever is also planning a solo album, which may be released soon.
“We’re trying to record something. Anything, really. Don’t know if it’ll be an EP or a full-length album. We’re just looking for someone to produce [our music] because we don’t trust each other enough to do it ourselves,” Tran said.

Here’s a fun story…
“One time we were having band practice with a soundboard, and we were having trouble with levels, and [our guitarist] had stepped outside to grab something, and saw a guy with a Fender shirt on. So, being a genius, he assumed he knew sound, and invited him to the practice, where he promptly wasted thirty minutes of our time and just twiddled knobs. I love him though,” said Tran.

The hardcore music scene can be daunting to some, but to Bean Taco and Buster Sales, it’s the perfect place to create musical projects that pertain to their styles and interests. The result, in both bands, is a highly entertaining and effective sound that anyone can love – even if you might not consider yourself a fan of the genre now, everyone has to start somewhere.