Jesse Hartman is a musician, filmmaker and actor, living in New York’s East Village.
As a teenager, Hartman played guitar/keyboards on a punk-rock-Spinal-Tap-style comeback tour of Japan with the notorious Richard Hell & the Voidoids. He then went on to form Sammy with Luke Wood (Hartman co-wrote, sang, played guitar/keyboards), releasing “Debut Album” (1994), “Kings of the Inland Empire” (1995) and “Tales of Great Neck Glory” (1996).
He then went on to form rock/electro group Laptop in 1997, releasing an E.P. (End Credits) in 1997 followed by the single Gimme The Nite in 1998. End Credits was well received by the British underground music press (notably NME magazine), and garnered airtime on BBC Radio 1’s Evening Session. The song was rendered infamous by the fact that it used samples of Hartman’s ex-girlfriend’s answering machine.
Hartman was then picked up by major label Island Records and released 2 singles (Nothing to Declare and I’m So Happy You Failed, both in 1999), before leaving the label due to mounting pressures for him to release his album. He eventually joined Trust Me Records to release the full-length “Opening Credits” in 2000, “The Old Me vs. The New You” in 2001, and “Don’t Try This At Home” in 2003. He is currently working on his fourth album “Positive“.
The world premier of Hartman’s film, House of Satisfaction, will be at the Reykjavík International Film Festival this year.
