Artists often find themselves compelled to travel far and wide to find inspiration for their work, their creativity. For Meshal “Mesh” Lakhani, traveling was simply a way of life growing up. Born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Mesh subsequently was raised in Bangladesh and Pakistan, attending international schools overseas before heading to the University of Virginia in 2002.Growing up, Mesh was influenced by the 90’s sound of grunge music. His first inspiration was listening to Pearl Jam’s “Ten” in the late summer of 1991. From that point on, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder would always be a strong influence. Throughout Middle School he was fascinated with being in a band, although it wasn’t until High School that Mesh and his friends started jamming together. Someone always seemed to have a guitar on hand, ready to play.
He always had an appreciation for good instrumentals, wowed by the capabilities of bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At home, it was the sounds of his Dad’s favorites — Bob Dylan or James Taylor.
In college, he enjoyed watching live bands at local bars, performing everything from jazz to rock to hip hop. His roommates were always musical, introducing him to still more genres. Soon after college, Mesh began writing songs. He continues to develop his musical style.
Scotty O’ Toole
Since he was born Scotty O’ Toole has been exposed to music. His mother would regularly play great old Motown and Atlantic records.-The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, Crosby, Stills and Nash, the list goes on. At age 12, Scotty picked up his first guitar after his cousin gave him a copy of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell”. Soon after, his family friend gave him a copy of Kiss’ “Alive’, their first live album. Scotty fell in love with the rockin’ electric guitars on those records and his life took turn from then on.Around the age of 18, having listened to nothing but hard rock, Scotty was blown away by the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. Inspired by them, Scotty became more involved with jam bands that played parties and small clubs. He took on the role of the sound guy to attend to PA duties.
It wasn’t until Scotty attempted to record a demo for his band that he completely fell in love with the recording studio. He used an 8 track recorder, a 16 channel mixer and a hand full of microphones to record a demo for his 6 piece blues band, complete with two full drummers (similar to the Allmans and the Dead). When playing back the recorded track, Scotty was able to pan things left and right and realized how much control he had over the sound in the studio compared live recordings. From that day he was hooked. He quit his day job as a car painter, got a job at a small studio and hasn’t looked back. It’s been 11 years and he still looks forward to going to work as he did on his first paid session.
Almost two years ago Scotty met Mesh at Omega Studios. Scotty was the engineer assigned to Mesh on his first session. From then on they formed a creative bond and came together to form the production team at Franklins Row. Scotty engineers and co-produces all of Mesh’s tracks, as well as playing lead guitar and bass.
Jelani House
Jelani House aka J.House is a 24 year old artist defying genre and convention. Having been raised on 3 different continents, Jelani’s influences mirror this diversity of experience.. As a child, he played the piano and saxophone, participating in recitals and school bands through elementary, middle and high school. In the latter part of his high-school years, Jelani began recording his thoughts in rhyme, writing hip hop and R&B songs any chance he got. Once in college, Jelani began writing songs more formally with friends, recording music in dorm studios, and performing at events in and around Virginia. Some of the highlights of his College performing days were a performance with the comical act Afroman, of the break-through hit “Cause I got High”, performing with Masta Ace, of the original Juice Crew, performing with Wordsworth of Punch and Words, and performing with international sensation, the “Gym Class Heroes.”
Jelani met Mesh in Pakistan during their Middle School days, and then reunited in college. They were roommates their last two years at school and both moved to Washington DC after graduation. Their long friendship has brought trust and appreciation for each other’s creativity.
Jelani is equal parts song-writer and performance artist. Franklin’s Row is glad to call him a member of the team, so far collaborating with Mesh on a few songs, but expect more tracks in the near future.
Team
He always had an appreciation for good instrumentals, wowed by the capabilities of bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At home, it was the sounds of his Dad’s favorites — Bob Dylan or James Taylor.
In college, he enjoyed watching live bands at local bars, performing everything from jazz to rock to hip hop. His roommates were always musical, introducing him to still more genres. Soon after college, Mesh began writing songs. He continues to develop his musical style.
Scotty O’ Toole
It wasn’t until Scotty attempted to record a demo for his band that he completely fell in love with the recording studio. He used an 8 track recorder, a 16 channel mixer and a hand full of microphones to record a demo for his 6 piece blues band, complete with two full drummers (similar to the Allmans and the Dead). When playing back the recorded track, Scotty was able to pan things left and right and realized how much control he had over the sound in the studio compared live recordings. From that day he was hooked. He quit his day job as a car painter, got a job at a small studio and hasn’t looked back. It’s been 11 years and he still looks forward to going to work as he did on his first paid session.
Almost two years ago Scotty met Mesh at Omega Studios. Scotty was the engineer assigned to Mesh on his first session. From then on they formed a creative bond and came together to form the production team at Franklins Row. Scotty engineers and co-produces all of Mesh’s tracks, as well as playing lead guitar and bass.
Jelani House
Jelani met Mesh in Pakistan during their Middle School days, and then reunited in college. They were roommates their last two years at school and both moved to Washington DC after graduation. Their long friendship has brought trust and appreciation for each other’s creativity.
Jelani is equal parts song-writer and performance artist. Franklin’s Row is glad to call him a member of the team, so far collaborating with Mesh on a few songs, but expect more tracks in the near future.