Chris Befeld is an arts producer based in Montauk, NY

Wave /wāv/ n:
A sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion. Ex. "It’s remarkable how one small gesture can create a wave of kindness."

LIGHT

Design & Art Direction
Digital Assets
Physical Assets + Print
Visual Systems
Artist Collaborations
Merchandise

SOUND
Recording & Live Sound Fundamentals
Drums (occasionally Guitar)
Artist Collaborations
Kind Feedback & Support

EVENT
Communications & Organization
Production Scheduling
Press Collaboration
Brand Partnerships
Sponsorship Development
Social Media Campaigns
Digital Ads & Marketing

Bristol Jazz Festival

During a year spent in the UK, I joined forces with the Bristol Jazz festival team to help re-vitalize the festival for a spiritually new 2024 year. The 15 year old festival has been a long-time host of the greatest names in Jazz from across the UK and the world, over a three day weekend in March.

Working directly with Festival Director Katya Gorrie, my services ranged from production to art direction, the creation of a new visual systems, digital marketing campaigns, and development of visual artist, sponsor, and brand partnerships for the 2024 year. All of which contributed to boosting attendance to over 6000 over the weekend, and a digital reach of over 120,000 followers, all with a highly limited ad spend and marketing budget.

SERVICES (November 2023 - March 2024)

General Organization & Scheduling w. Festival Director
Partnership development with Bristol Sponsors & Brands
Full Rebrand with logo, visual language & main brand poster
Established “Annual Artist Feature” Program with (Con Mchugh for ‘24)
Art Direction for Artist Feature Materials
Led Digital Marketing Campaign (Content Calendar + Asset Generation)
Designed Print & Digital Programs
Oversaw Merchandising
Day-of Coordination & Artist Liaison

TEAM

Katya Gorrie - Festival Director |
Nigel Evans - Chair of Trustees |
Chris Befeld - Assistant Producer |
Rob Ellmore - Technical Director |
Mia - Stage Manager |
Simon Hall - Lead Coordinator |
Marie Draper - Partnerships & Marketing |
Beth Davies - Press Officer |
Jack Fittes - Press Officer |
+ Countless Volunteers & Tobacco Factory Staff

HIGHLIGHTS

6000+ Attendance
40 Events: Ticketed concerts, Free Stage, Workshops + Parade over 3 days
Featured local visual artists Con McHugh & Alice Dunn
Four Story Projection Mapping
Over 120K+ Digital reach with no paid Ad spend, via artist collaboration + feature winning with our Newspaper Club poster/program.
Press features from BBC, Bristol 24/7. Local TV & Radio

Azolla Album Art Direction

Psychedelic and soulful Afrojazz, the Paris & Bristol, UK based Azolla’s debut album transports the listener to a sun baked dance floor of eastern melodies and cinematic rhythm, Arabic infused string arrangements, and a heavy dose of soul horn section.

Azolla asked me to capture this vibe for their debut album release cover art, as well as design the accompanying vinyl labels and packaging.

See More Of the Explorations, and Final Cover Art HERE

L ast Place Records

I founded Last Place Records in 2020 as a home for international, funk, jazz and soul music in Austin, Texas. Last Place has to-date put out 7 Records which are produced & recorded in house and all released on Vinyl. Last Place is now growing into an international collective of artists, engineers, and vinyl manufacturers collaborating to make wonderful physical releases of great music.

2024 Update

Location:
Lexington Rd,
Louisville, KY 40204

Last Place is currently developing and opening a large-format recording studio and events space in Louisville, KY in the same warehouse complex of the famed La La Land Recording Studio (My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird). This space will serve as a creative hub for the music community as well as an educational and cultural space for developing arts programs in Lousiville.

Other Stuff! Other Stuff!

STEREORAMA TYPEFACE V 1.0

Sometimes you just need the real thing! STEREORAMA is a body copy typeface sampled from liner notes of “The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller” LP from 1961. Created with the intended use of efficiently mocking and producing sixties era label art and sonic assets. This OTF Typeset includes 26 lower and uppercase character, period and comma. As well as 16 SVG vector assets for 45 design.

Available in RESOURCES!

RED DOOR MAGAZINE - NEWSPRINT MAGAZINE DESIGN FOR THE AUSTIN INDIE MUSIC MAGAZINE - 2015

Flamingo Club Bristol

Paying homage to the original London Jazz scene, Bristol Flamingo Club is bringing Bristol a new monthly Jazz event, with incredible local and international artists, student showcases, and a unique dance floor: the planks of the one and only @grainbarge the last Tuesday of every month.

LP-007 (La Palma II)

The full length follow up to my vinyl-only library music release in currently in the works, listeners can expect the same level of transportation to distant feelings, this time with a more funky, uptempo flare, and elements of surf, jazz, and sountrack to round out the experience. Coming Fall ‘24

MARATHON

Debuting a five year body of work by New York artist & Illustrator Taylor Schmidt, MARATHON will be an exploration into the artists character development in traditional, digital and 3D mediums. Coming in 2024.

DJ BODY & SOUL Viz. ID

An ongoing project, I’m creating an evolving visual identity identity to support Austin & Louisville based world music DJ Body & Soul to help connect sonic explorations to a visual system.

Hit me up!

Always open to new opportunities and collaborators to bring ideas (particularly in the music & arts space) to life! Currently located in Montauk, NY!

Current Project Locations:
Bristol, UK
London, UK
Austin, TX
Louisville, KY
Montauk, NY
NYC