Eastern alumna Charlotte Martin has toured with Howie Day and Liz Phair.

As a vocal performance major, she had no intention of writing music. She did not even start writing music until the end of her senior year.

The first song she wrote was for a friend who committed suicide.

After graduating in 1998, she had two choices: go to graduate school or try to make it in the record business.

She took her father’s advice and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career.

Today, Martin has been living in L.A. for nearly seven years. She’s put out four albums, and has another one on the way.

Students gathered in the University Ballroom while Martin talked about the music business with Tommy Tallarico Wednesday afternoon.

Tallarico is the founder of Tommy Tallarico Studios, the multimedia industry’s largest audio production house.

He has been a video game composer for 16 years. He is also the first video game composer to release an album.

When he was younger, he loved music and video games, but he did not know he could work with his two biggest loves when he grew up.

He remembers working on the original Tony Hawk video game, thinking, “Who the hell is this Tony Hawk guy, anyway?” he said.

Today, he deals with unique situations at work.

“(People ask him), Okay, we’ve got a hundred guys on horses, they’re coming at you with swords, now write a piece (of music),” he said.

Video games’ script, lights, emotions and visuals, Tallarico said, inspire video game music.

Video games are turning into the radio of the 21st century, Tallarico said. He gave the example of Green Day’s Grammy award-winning song “American Idiot,” which debuted on Madden, a football video game, instead of the radio or MTV.

He knew he had “made it,” after working on his first video game, Prince of Persia. He remembers the first time he saw his name scroll on the screen.

“I knew I could die now, but my name would live on forever,” he said.

Both artists stressed the importance of hard work and dedication needed in order to succeed in the music business.

The two artists agreed that making yourself happy was also a key element.

“Make the music that you like, don’t just do what you think other people will like,” Martin said.

Martin’s success has been gradual, said her mother, Becky Martin.

Her daughter has gone through a lot of hard work, perseverance, lonely times and phone calls home, Becky Martin said.

There is a price to pay with this type of lifestyle, as she has had to sacrifice a lot, she said. Most of her friends are married with kids. And she wants to do that, but she can’t yet – she has to sacrifice, she said.

Charlotte Martin was recently married and has been touring for the last six months.

“But she makes a living doing what she loves,” Becky Martin said.