Biography
Lewis Marklin Mash, was born in Los Alamitos, California, to Lewis Edward Mash, a baker (Dolly Madison Bakery, Glendale, CA) and Kathe Leigh Mash (Cuthbert) an internationally known porcelain artist. Mash grew up in Cerritos, CA, where he attended elementary school at Joe A. Gonzalves elementary School and then Junior High at Carmenita Middle School. Mash was a troubled kid who was kicked out of his junior high in the 8th grade. Mash's father took and early retirement after a job related injury and moved the troubled teen to Pismo Beach, CA but he only lasted about half way through the 9th grade at Arroyo Grande High School before being permanently expelled after throwing childhood friend JR Inlow through a plate glass window nearly severing his Achilles tendon, putting him in a wheelchair for nearly two years. Mash, who started his career in music, as a rap artist, at the age of 10, started his own label at age 14, releasing his first 12" single vinyl with group Project One and toured the country promoting his music and performing until moving out on his own at the age of 15. Mash, who went by the name of Mark-E was managed by cousin Al Martinez and industry veteran Todd Singerman (Motorhead, Extreme, Anthrax) and signed with legendary 1960's San Francisco music attorney, Brian Rohan (Aerosmith, The Pogues, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc), at the age of 17. Mash would perform on late night shows (Into the Night with Rick Dees and the Arsenio Hall Show) being toted the rapper of the future. It was only the unexpected death of his father December 11, 1991 that would throw the promising young rapper in a tailspin that would take almost 3 decades to recover from. The teen left music to join the ministry, being licensed by the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God, becoming a youth pastor and preaching at churches around the country. 4 years later, Mash would go through a divorce and after owning two coffee shops, "Skurvy's Cafe," in Pismo Beach and Atascadero, CA for a short time, the 23 year old would dive in head first to a life of drugs and alcohol that would take 18 years to shake. Mash first worked in television at SABAN entertainment in 1997 as a security guard/receptionist for Fox Family World Wide where he would learn the industry inside and out sheerly by asking a million questions and making friends wherever and whenever possible. Mash, who only had a 9th grade education decided to move to Santa Barbara, CA in 1999 to go back to school where he earned his GED in the 96th percentile from the Marge Schott Center in 2001 and then enter school at nationally renowned Santa Barbara City College with the help of 5-year fiance' Lisa Clor. Lew Marklin, as most know him today, interned at local ABC News station KEYT for a year before being hired as a PA, then an ENG Operator and eventually a Producer/Editor whilst also working for two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers to get a well rounded experience as a pro camera man and editor for news, television and live sports on his way to learning his ropes as a Television Producer. Marklin, was not afraid to jump in to the business as an indie producer either. He got his feet wet nationally when he produced his own news variety TV show, ADHDtv in 2007. News has been around the Mash family as step brother in-law Carl Schumacher and now nephew Carl Schumacher Jr. are former and now present presidents of NBC News in Burbank, CA. Before going broke, Mash managed to produce 50 episodes that aired on cable across the US, starting on mostly public access stations, and wielded incredible ratings that beat out many network produced shows, ever etching his reputation in the industry, as a nuts and bolts producer that can take nothing and turn it into something. Marklin, has now produced talk shows, a kids game show, Reality Shows, Sports Shows and most recently a religious broadcast and specializes in family friendly programming. Mash, who goes by the rapper name Monsta Mash now is Straight Edge since 2015 which means that he does not drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or do drugs of any kind and has recently written two books, one on the TV industry, "TV in ADHD: The Reel Story of ADHDtv," and the other entitled "Sober IS...Sexy!" about the about his coming out of addiction without a program. Mash helps to run The Gallery Group - a group of Hollywood insiders who develop young music artists and help older artists to re-invent themselves for a new era. Mash finally earned his AA degree in Liberal Studies with a Behavioral Emphasis in March 2017 and now attends University of California Santa Barbara majoring in Film and Media Studies.
