Jesse Stiles was born in 1978 in Boston, MA. As a child he studied piano. Stiles began using computers and synthesizers to program music at the age of 12.

Stiles received a B.A. from Vassar College in Cognitive Science, writing his thesis on Music Perception. Upon graduating from Vassar in 2000, Stiles was awarded a Fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation to travel around the world for one year while creating electronic music. This fellowship culminated in a “backpack record” by The Jesse Stiles 3000 (Stiles’ beat-oriented performance/recording project), titled “Watson Songs.”

From 2001 to 2003 Stiles attended the Integrated Electronic Arts program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a full fellowship. At RPI Stiles studied under Pauline Oliveros, Igor Vamos, Curtis Bahn, and Neil Rolnick. His thesis show, Topics In Advanced Facemelting, was an electro-acoustic concert/light show in a 19th century Gasholder Building featuring collaborations with violinist Todd Reynolds and light artist Kevin McCormick.

Stiles has performed at wide variety of new music venues such as Lincoln Center, The Galapagos Art Space, Joe’s Pub, and The Deep Listening Space. Stiles also performs at dive bars and actively participates in underground venues.

Stiles has worked as an Educator, Sound Designer, Composer, Remixer, and Music Software Programmer. He has taught at the Massachusetts College of Art, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Vassar College. Stiles has created original music and sound design for web design firms such as id29, artists like The Yes Men, museums such as The Field Museum and education/entertainment media companies such as Nanotoon Entertainment. He creates software for music performance, live video, and light control and recently programmed the newest software incarnation of Pauline Oliveros’ Expanded Instrument System.

Stiles’ curriculum vitae is online here [pdf].