Music has a tremendous power to do good. Faced with the ultimate tragedy - the death of his son - Michael Gomoll decided to harness that power of music to turn his pain into a chance for hope for others suffering from the illness that claimed his son's life. Through the Joseph Gomoll Foundation, named in honor of his son, Gomoll is launching the Joey's Song project. In this interview, Gomoll explains Joey's Song, talks about the outpouring of support he has received from the music community and shares why music is the perfect tribute to Joey.
Question: How did the idea for Joey's Song come about? When did you start working on it?
Answer: Actually, when Joey first got sick with his seizure disorder (he had his first seizure almost three years before he was finally diagnosed with Dravet's Syndrome) almost 4 years ago, I started thinking about how we, his family, could make a difference for everyone with epilepsy. I have a passion for music myself and very early on in Joey's life thought that "someday" we would pull together a CD to help raise some money. Well, like many things in life, someday was forced upon us by circumstances. So when Joey passed away in March 2010, within the first few weeks I knew it was something I needed to do for a number of reasons. First, I knew we had to make a difference to others afflicted with the various seizure disorders that are out there. Second, I knew that I wanted the world to know Joey's story, and finally, I knew that I needed this project as a first step in finding something good and positive in this really awful thing that happened. In other words, this entire project was meant to help others, but I also knew it would help me.
You have assembled a star studded cast for Joey's Song so far. Tell us a bit about how you started reaching out to artists. Were you surprised by the response you received?
Well, I have been lucky throughout my life to be friends with many people that make their living in the music business. So, my first thought was to reach out to my friends. Justin Currie is the lead singer of the Scottish band del Amitri. Justin and his band had many Top 10 hits in the UK and some Top 40 success here in the States. Justin has been a friend to our family for years. Also Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, wonderful songwriters and performers themselves, also have been dear friends. They have written hits for many artists, including the Four Tops and the Bangles, but are best known for writing We Belong, a big hit for Pat Benatar. Lowen and Navarro have been family friends for years and have played small intimate concerts at our home for family and friends over the years. So, initially I reached out to these artists. But I also over the years have informally met or had connections to other artists. Matthew Ryan, Eileen Rose, Five For Fighting and others - in various forms, a "six degrees of separation" kind of thing. So, I felt I at least had a place to start with some of these people. Through a bit of detective work - most artist web pages have some form of "contact us" - I found email addresses and sent a short note, first reminding the artist of how we "knew" each other and then told them our story. Well, folks like Matthew and Eileen responded within hours, and it was obvious that they were responding to the story and cause, not just whatever connection they had to me. So, over the course of the next few weeks I started sending out notes to all of the artists I liked, respected or just plain felt would be nice additions to the project. It was therapeutic, engaging, satisfying and frustrating all at the same time.
Well, the response was overwhelming. I started to receive responses from artist management, labels and the artists themselves. People were responding to the story and often relating to me very personal stories of loss or their own experience with seizure disorders. Often the artists would give me their direct cell phone number and want to talk to me directly about our experience and what we were trying to do. The outpouring was amazing. I haven't really gone back and looked, but I would guess I got a response of some sort from one out of every three artists I contacted and probably got a "yes" from one out of every six or seven. Not everyone could help with a track - some helped with a donation, some with sending some autographed items to auction, some with other ideas. For example, Sam Beam, who records under the name Iron and Wine, is going to record a complete concert for us and have it available for download to anyone that donates a certain amount to the Foundation!
Dravet's Syndrome is a rare form of epilepsy that many people may not have encountered. One of the goals of The Joseph Gomoll Foundation is to raise awareness about Joey's illness. What can you tell us about Dravet's Syndrome?
