In a way, Jesse Stiles has a career I can really envy. Studying with Pauline Oliveros, traveling India while sitting in on music school classes, working with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and teaching at Carnegie Mellon. Huh - sounds pretty great, eh? Combine that with an active performing and recording schedule, work on sound art installations, and you've got a full book! But it's interesting to hear about Jesse's background, and how it really wasn't clear that this was going to be the outcome. A self-described "mediocre" musician, he zeroed in on music technology and mobile recording/performing as his process, spent time working with amazing people, and things ended up falling his way. In our chat, we got a chance to dig into his background, how he approaches performance, and how he's managed everything from no-computer installation setups to LED-helmeted live rigs. A very insightful discussion, and it'll make you want to check out http://jessestil.es/ to learn more about his work. Enjoy! Transcription available here: http://www.darwingrosse.com/AMT/transcript-0326.html