Chris Alderton | 10.16.23

Lead guitarist of The Amazons Chris Alderton discusses how his love for art direction led to starting his own design workshop CJA Art, creating tour posters for superstar artists like Greta Van Fleet and Arctic Monkeys.

Given that being in a rock band is your day job, how and when did the design work go from being a hobby to something you were pursuing more seriously?

I’d been doing designs for The Amazons since the very beginning: our first ever 7” for Junk Food Forever was designed sitting on the floor of a venue called Think Tank in Newcastle during one of our first UK Tours; and most of our early T-Shirt designs & logos were all designed on a bootleg version of Photoshop, called GIMP, whilst we were on the road. However, it was only ever a money-saving exercise in my mind as the most training I’ve had is in high school art class trying to draw the back of my hand...

When our sophomore album, Future Dust, came around, we wanted to follow in the footsteps of some of our favourite bands and have a bespoke poster design for every individual show on the tour - something we’d been excited about trying since starting out. This opened to door to the world of professional poster design that I hadn’t looked into before, and I remember seeing some of the posters come in thinking ‘I could do this’.

In most cases, this moment of inspiration would have passed, but we were all headed into a forced 2-year break which gave me a chance to explore what I was capable of in the design world. My first creation was a 'fan-made' poster for a band called Demob Happy’s single Mother Machine - which I had on repeat at the time. I posted it online and sold out a limited run of prints within the first week. That gave me the validation & confidence I needed to start putting myself out there as a designer. I’ve felt out of my depth every step of the way, but the more projects I complete the less I feel like I’m treading water.

While I’m sure it’s different from client to client, what does the process generally consist of from ideation to execution?

You’re right, it does vary quite a bit. Some clients will send really detailed briefs with colour palettes, design ideas, fonts & logos to include etc., in which case I will use that as a basis and work towards something both the client and I'm happy with. I love problem-solving and puzzles, so I really enjoy these kinds of projects.

Most of the time, I’m left to my own devices. I don’t have a notepad or a sketchbook. I genuinely don’t believe I’m a good enough artist to put one to good use. It all starts in my head with the most bizarre idea I can conjure up. I’ll scribble something resembling that idea onto a blank photoshop canvas until I like the basic shapes and composition, and I’ll keep repeating that process on top of the last, adding more considered lines & pen strokes until it resembles something that I can see on a venue wall.

These projects that lean more on me as an artist are definitely the most challenging, but the pay-off, both short and long-term, is always worth it.

When you’re able to exercise some creative freedom, what typically influences your creative vision on a given project?

I’ve learned a lot in music by researching and reading about what influences my favourite artists. Doing this reveals a branching family tree of influences that you can climb into, with the added perspective of how that music influenced your favourite artists. I’ve been trying to do the same with gig posters. I’ve found myself browsing sci-fi book covers, comics, propaganda, protest posters & placards, movie advertisements - the lot. Each offers something different that I’ll then try my best to combine into my work.

Looking at my portfolio, it’s pretty clear I’m heavily influenced by sci-fi. The fictional universe has no bounds and no rules. I can’t help myself - it’s just the most fun.

Who else are you seeing in the space who’s doing really great work or inspires you?

I have to shout out a South African artist called Ian Jepson. They created some of my favourite of The Amazons’ posters ever, and have been an inspiration into how a visually simple design will speak for itself if the idea & execution is good enough. They also post their design processes on their website & socials, which has helped me massively in creating my own.

An artist from Newcastle called Josh Aitken, creating wonderfully goofy and wobbly pieces. They have an instantly recognisable, individual and unique style - something I aspire to acquire.

The same goes for Diego Andrade. A Mexican artist with an incredibly expressive style and awe-inspiring penmanship. I hope to work with them on some Amazons work in the near future.

Dream Client?

Perhaps this is a bit predictable, but I think it has to be Foo Fighters. They virtually have a hall-of-fame of fantastic gig posters, of which I would be honoured to be a part of.

Saying that though, a lot of smaller artists are priced out of having unique show posters which I think is a real shame - my doors are always open to collaborations!

As DIY recording has become increasingly attainable over the last decade+, Billboard has provided a breakdown on how producer compensation has evolved to its current state; notably including greater distinctions for payment by genre, widely varied upfront fees, and more avenues to earn publishing income.

• Producer fees: For major label-affiliated artists, fees tend to start around $15k per track for a pop or R&B/hip-hop artist, though a superstar-level producer can command upwards of $75k per track. On the indie level, producers will often receive a percentage of the master monies instead of a fee, either in perpetuity or until the producer fee is recouped.

• Points: range from two to five percentage points of a record is standard today, depending on how established the producer is.

• Publishing: as the lines between songwriter and producer become increasingly blurred, many producers are now earning publishing credits on top of their producer fees. This is especially true in hip-hop where publishing is generally split 50% for the top line and 50% for the track.

• Extra earnings: includes neighboring rights, royalties from placements on digital radio, and production deals/joint ventures between a veteran producer and their protégés

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