What does it mean to “make it” in the music industry? And is it possible to do in Iowa?

These are two examples of the many questions covered in the panel discussion “The Business of Music: Making It,” a part of the 2002 Institute on National Affairs series Thursday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

The panel, consisting of Dave Diebler and Barb Schlif of the band House of Large Sizes and music producer and ISU alumnus Robb Vallier, took questions from the audience concerning the music industry. The discussion was moderated by Kyle Munson, music critic for the Des Moines Register.

Topics of discussion ranged from the pros and cons of staying in Iowa to the possible benefits of signing with a major music label. Dieber and Schlif recounted the brief time when they signed with Colombia Records and their final decision to leave the label in favor of a smaller recording company and the opportunity to stay in Iowa.

“We formed the band fifteen years ago in Cedar Falls and spent years playing around the state until we signed with Colombia,” Diebler said. “Eventually, though, we realized that we’re interconnected to Iowa, and we couldn’t be anywhere else.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Vallier. Having grown up in Ames and gone to Iowa State, Vallier jumped at the opportunity to leave Iowa to go to school at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., in order to continue with his love of music.

“I felt that I had done everything I could do here,” Vallier said.

“I went to Berklee for three and a half years, and the day after I graduated I moved out to L.A. It was time for me to be a small fish in a big pond.”

Audience members were interested in the “how to’s” of making music, particularly regarding the ins and outs of big-time labels. All members of the panel were able to contribute.

Schlif and Dieber had their experience with Colombia Records as well as the smaller labels they have been with, including Toxic Shock out of Tuscon, Ariz., and What Are Records out of Boulder, Colo.

Vallier is currently in a band in Los Angeles. Much of the focus was on the way business was run by the big names of the music industry.

Schlif and Diebler explained that “it was nice at first,” but there were too many politics involved. Diebler gave an example of how complicated the industry can be.

“There are entertainment lawyers, because if a real lawyer took a look at a music conract, like ours that was about thirty-eight pages long, they’d say you were crazy, because there are things in there that aren’t legal anywhere else,” he said.

All agreed that the important thing about making music is making it your own way and doing your best at whatever it is you’re good at.

“You can bell and whistle [a song] till you’re blue in the face, but if there’s nothing there, it’s not worth it,” Vallier said.

All in all, the advice from the members of House of Large Sizes and the accomplished producer was to stay where the people will come to the shows.

“People actually want to hear live music here,” Vallier said. “Not so in L.A. They’re too jaded to listen to a band they’ve never heard of. If you think you just have to move to L.A., don’t do it. Stay in your scene, because when you go out there, you’re a very small fish. The Midwest scene is much more beneficial.”