[Photo courtesy of Sophia Butler]

By Jessica Thrasher, Staff Writer  

The HouseGuest is a three-piece indie-rock outfit from Athens, who took the Lobsterfest stage for the second time on the third and final day of Lobsterfest 2025. The HouseGuest took some time before their set to tell me about themselves, their process and a bit about the Athens music scene itself. 

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

JT: Thank you for sitting down with me! What are your names and what do you play?

Sean Pierce (SP): I play the drums.                                                                                

Lea Marshall (LM): I sing and play guitar.

Ben Kloppman (BK): I play bass.

JT: What’s the story behind the name The HouseGuest?

LM: We were at my apartment three years ago, and we were trying to make some stupid decision, and I was like, ‘no, you decide, you’re the houseguest!’ Then it just kind of stuck.

JT: When and how did you guys form?

LM: Ben and I met in a history of rock class, and then we started jamming. Then, Sean and I met in a GIS class, and we were looking for a drummer. We just started playing together.

JT: You are a three-piece band. Can that be used to your advantage in a scene where a lot of the bands have more members? How does it compare to other projects you have worked on?

SP: I play in Six Flags Guy. It’s definitely a different experience. We’re maybe more collaborative in some ways than other experiences I’ve had. Which can work with our small group to open up conversation more.

BK: I think there’s just more space for three instruments rather than like four or five. As the bass player, I can have a lot more room to play with just one guitar rather than if there was a second guitarist or a keyboardist.

JT: How would each of you describe your sound in one word?

BK: Oh, man. I think we have kind of a ‘melancholy’ thing going on.

LM: That’s a hard question – this might not make sense to other people, but I think ‘light?’

SP: Shoot. I would maybe say ‘unconventional,’ because Ben plays all the melody lines, which is not usually what happens.

JT: Where do you get inspiration in terms of songwriting? Do you all share a lot of influences?

SP: We have a very wide range of artists that we listen to and there’s overlap, but we all have our own little spaces that we fall into. I feel like a lot of the inspiration comes from bands that you wouldn’t expect. Like, Lea’s a big grunge person, but we aren’t really playing grunge. So, it’s not really expected.

LM: My favorite is Alice in Chains.

BK: I think with my playing, I probably pull most from The Beatles, The Smiths and Radiohead.

JT: Is this your first Lobsterfest?

BK: This is our second Lobsterfest! We played two years ago, also on a Sunday.

JT: We’re glad to have you back! Is there anything else you would like to share before going on?

SP: Yeah, we are currently working on an EP with no set release date, but look out for it this summer! The title is still in the works. ACRN’s own KJ Mueller is producing it.