Jeff Harms is an American musician and actor from

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

. In the music world he is known for his song-writing and solo performances, occasionally accompanied by the likes of

Leroy Bach LeRoy Fredrick Bach is an American musician, composer, and music producer. He has hosted musical gatherings, fostered musical collaborations, and led bands in Chicago since 1990. Bach is perhaps best known for his work as a multi-instrumentalist in ...

Emmett Kelly Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898March 28, 1979) was an American circus performer, who created the clown figure "Weary Willie," based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s. According to Charles W. Carey, Jr.: :Kelly’s creation of ...

, Sam Wagster, Dan Mohr, Gillian Lisée. Benjamin Boye, Rachel Ries, and

Nora O'Connor Nora O’Connor (born April 2, 1968) is an American, Chicago-based musician. Though primarily known for her vocals, O'Connor also plays guitar and bass. For much of 2013, O'Connor toured internationally as a singer in Iron and Wine. She also reco ...

among many others. As an actor and performer he is known for his collaboration with long-time collaborator and playwright Brian Torrey Scott.

Music

Jeff's first album was made in 2002 during a workshop at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago run by the performance group Goat Island. Spencer Matern and Emily Evans developed some of the songs further a
ESS
in Chicago and released the album on their label Naivete Records in 2004 as Big Amazing Songs. After graduating from SAIC Jeff toured the US opening for

Jason Webley Jason Webley is an American musician known for his sincere fusion of folk, experimental, and alternative music. Webley plays the guitar and accordion, sometimes providing percussion by stomping or shaking a plastic vodka bottle filled with coins. ...

. Since he has released three more records. ''The Myth of Heroics'', was produced by

in 2008, ''He Said She Said That's What She Said'', produced by LeRoy Bach in 2012 and ''Pretty Girls Don't Just Talk to Me'' in 2013, produced by Sam Wagster. In all three cases, these producers both produced and played extensively on the records. ''Pretty Girls'' is an album of duets also featuring singers Gillian Lisée, Rachel Ries, Nora O'Connor, Dan Mohr, and Angela James. In 2015 he provided rhythm guitar and backing vocals for The Cairo Gang's tour of the US and Canada. His music appears in the movie ''Elephant Medicine'' by Julian Wayser.

Performance

Jeff received his MFA from The

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

in 2004 with a focus on performance art and sculpture. There he met writer-director Brian Torrey Scott and began a decade long friendship making experimental theater and video in Chicago. Brian directed and occasionally played opposite Jeff in over a dozen plays and movies. In 2008 Brian joined the group Every House Has a Door and in 2009 Jeff took his place in the role of

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

for Every House's production ''They're Mending the Forest Highway''. Jeff was in the company for two years. In 2007 Jeff produced and starred in ''A Thing as Big as the Ocean'', written and directed by Joseph Cashiola, shot by Daniel Mejia. The film was invited to the IFP Narrative Film Lab and won the Narrative Lab Finishing Grant of $50,000. It premiered at the Woods Hole Film Festival the following year. Brian Torrey Scott and Jeff made three films together, ''The Objects of Living'', ''Isthmus'' and ''Ganzfeld''. ''Objects'' was shot at the Catwalk Artist Residency in upstate New York. ''Ganzfeld'' was shot in the mountains of Montana and in Chicago in a year long collaboration with Scott and long-time friend and cameraman Daniel Mejia. ''Ganzfeld'' features an original soundtrack of songs written by LeRoy Bach performed by

Azita Youssefi Azita Youssefi ( fa, آزیتا یوسفی ), born January 18, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri, is an Iranian-American experimental musician, artist and music teacher based in Chicago. She was originally associated with the Chicago no wave scene, wh ...

and Marvin Tate. The song that plays over the credits was written by Harms and arranged by Bach. Ganzfeld was produced b
Michael Gilio
and Kwik Stop Productions. Jeff plays

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

's Mank. He starred in The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo for PBS as

Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He rose to prominence with the publication of '' Hell's Angels'' (1967), a book for which he s ...

, as well as music videos for

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Coheed and Cambria, and Death From Above 1979. Jeff also has small roles in ''Elephant Medicine'', directed by Julian Wayser and ''Oh My Soul'', directed by Nicholas Monsour. He also created an ongoing animated series about dating called ''Jeff Hobbs the Cartoon''. Jeff currently lives and works in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Discography

* ''Big Amazing Songs'' (Naivete Records, 2004) * ''The Myth of Heroics'' (The Disneyland Reform Party, 2008) * ''He Said She Said That's What She Said'' (2015) * ''Pretty Girls Don't Just Talk to Me'' (2015)

Filmography

* ''Pitch and Tone'' (2007) * ''The Objects of Living'' (2008) * ''A Thing as Big as the Ocean'' (2009) * ''Isthmus'' (tbd) * ''Ganzfeld'' (2011) * '' The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo'' (2018) * ''Mank'' (2020)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harms, Jeff Male actors from Illinois Living people Musicians from Illinois People from Arlington Heights, Illinois School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Year of birth missing (living people)