Bio

Sad House Guest makes music because nothing else makes sense.

We are an indie-rock band based in Chicago. Our original music is a blend of folk-punk, indie-pop, and alt-rock that showcases stream-of-conscious lyrics with energetic, easy-to-listen-to instrumentation. After moving from Eau Claire, WI to Chicago in 2023, the band has played at venues such as the Subterranean, Cobra Lounge, Cubby Bear, Reggie’s, Bookclub, various DIY venues, and more. Since then, we wrote and recorded our newest EP "Quarters", which is slightly calmer and more serious than its predecessors but with all the acoustic guitars, heavy drums, and wordy verses that make up a Sad House Guest tune. Since this project was thematically about money, we decided to spend no money making it, producing it completely DIY.

After gigging for a number of years as "Samuel Stein", the name Sad House Guest was born about year into the pandemic to encompass our new fuller and ambitious sound, inspired by bands such as The Front Bottoms, Pinegrove, Hippo Campus, Death Cab for Cutie, and Slaughter Beach, Dog. We released two EPs immediately following the birth of our new name (inspired by a line in "Fantastic Mr. Fox"). The first was Bugs in My Brain which was recorded during the pandemic and features 3 basement pop tunes followed by 2 slow folksy tunes. The second EP, Electric Veins, features the full band on 5 representative songs. We played these songs and various 2010s anthems on every porch, brewery, garage, dive bar, fish farm, or basement that would let us. In fall 2022 we toured both EPs all over the midwest from Chicago to Fargo. During this tour we also performed a collection of songs which would eventually become our first full-length album "Can I Make This Lighthearted?" This was the last set of recordings by the original lineup and is a culmination of the energy, improv, and community that defined those final college days for the band.

Thank you for listening.

Music

Quarters

Our first project in Chicago with the new lineup.

Released November 21st, 2025.

1. quarters is about moving out of your college town to a new city and the feeling of isolation that comes with those big changes. It establishes the theme of the record in thinking maybe things would be easier with a little more money.

2. airplanes & doctors is about putting your blind trust in things when you need to.

3. it's just money is an extrapolated take on my parents advice. It chronicles the absurdity of wealth and money's uncanny ability to make you feel stuck in place.

4. do overs complains about the unfortunate reality that we only get to live one life.

5. the blame is about becoming comfortable with your anxiety. It explores the unwarranted blame that other people may place on you for not fixing their anxiety as well.

written and performed by Samuel Stein, Benjamin Heppner, and Zach Donovan

Can I Make This Lighthearted?

Our first full length album as "Sad House Guest".

Released September 22nd, 2023.

December Whatever is a short song that follows the typical weekday night in a college relationship. It is introduced with much ado, which the album asks you to make sense of.
BABE is a stream-of-conscious piece that contemplates the chaos and disconnect of the world around us. The solution then being the calming effect that simply hanging out with someone has.
Acne & Anxiety is a deep dive into the only two things on my medical records. It talks about how a certain season can throw you off or how searching for simplicity is actually the most complicated thing there is.
Tiger, Moon, Daffodil is about loud love. It’s about how almost any metaphor or quip is accurate because you feel everything positive about this one person.
Sober October is the darkest song on the album, pondering the feeling of being used to a paralyzing extent. Subsequently it is about the feeling of needing to hide these feelings even as they overtake every thought.
Poison Ivy is about hanging out with your friends. It is another stream-of-conscious song that expresses the desire to seize the day at any level of effort.
Try Me Out is about the most frustrating feeling in the world: jealousy. It chronicles that feeling that you’re about to burst at the seams wanting everything to be out in the open.
Bluesky Moon is about hanging out with your friends, again. It’s about that profoundly calming feeling you get when you see the moon during the day.
Jackrabbits is the oldest song on the record. It was written a long time ago about the changes that occur without us noticing and not knowing how to deal with that. The song goes on for almost 7 minutes to represent me still not knowing how to deal with that.
Two Fools is the very romantic album closer. It is about knowing, knowing for sure, about at least one thing. The soundscape at the end asks us if we have now made sense of the noise.

written and performed by Samuel Stein, Ben Stein, Tor Kjartansson, and Sam Lakmann

Electric Veins

Our full band EP

Released April 8th, 2022.

1. Electric Veins is basically the sequel to Bugs in My Brain. Again we see the battle with anxiety but this time the feeling that you are always breaking something takes over.

2. Tuesday Evenings is about the blurred lines between friendship and something else and the conversations that typically follow or don't happen at all.

3. Cigarettes for Breakfast follows a character living on the street and the difficulties of finding safety.

4. Be is about hanging out with your bestie and just existing.

5. Alone is about the desire to be alone, without feeling as though you are missing out. It is a dramatic take on FOMO.

written and performed by Samuel Stein, Ben Stein, Tor Kjartansson, and Sam Lakmann

Bugs in My Brain

Our first EP as "Sad House Guest"

Released August 20th, 2021.

1. Bugs in My Brain is about the little voices in your head that tell you everything is wrong. The second half features a chorus of friends that exterminates all the negativity.

2. Master of Disguise follows a conversation with the universe. It's about trying to appreciate everything you have been given instead of constantly cursing about the things that have gone wrong.

3. Silhouettes is about leaving a place that you still have fond feelings about and the guilt that comes with it.

4. Little Thousand is inspired by the novel "Watership Down", where the main character must convince his fellow rabbits to leave their home to avoid a terrible fate.

5. Moscow Mules is a ballad about overthinking for the sake of overthinking and purposefully wanting something exciting, not necessarily good, to happen.

written and performed by Samuel Stein and Tor Kjartansson

Additional singles

Cadillac Jack is a fan favorite that tells the story of a particularly enigmatic man who disappeared for a year while his Cadillac remained stationary in an old parking lot.

The Water is about being scared of everything. It includes references from Greek mythology, pop culture, Christianity, and anecdotal writing to explain that fear is shared among people from any universe.

Listen to a recent interview and acoustic performance we did for ChiCityLives with Mike Rice on Que4 Radio.

ChiCityLives with Mike Rice on Que4 RadioSad House Guest

00:00 / 46:20

Listen to an interview we did with Converge Radio where we discussed four of our tracks and other fun things with host Cullen Ryan.

Artist Spotlight Series with Converge RadioSad House Guest

00:00 / 39:18

Below are two articles by Parker Reed with Volume One about our two respective EPs.

Click here to read about Bugs in My Brain.

Click here to read about Electric Veins.