As co-founder of Subtle and 13 & God, a touring member of Themselves, an associate of the Anticon Collective, and a former buyer for Amoeba Music, Pierson certainly has a substantial timeline to draw from. One episode in particular, however, proved significantly life-altering. In 2005, while on tour with Subtle, Pierson was irreversibly injured when the band’s tour van struck a patch of ice and flipped over. Pierson’s seatbelt malfunctioned, leaving him paralyzed from his torso to his feet. A grueling decade in recovery came and went as Pierson adapted to his altered reality. However, abandoning his passion for music was not an option. Armed with an iPad and a digital audio workstation called Ableton Live, Pierson learned how to circumvent his physical restrictions.