Choosing their band name as a cheeky counterpoint to peers headed to university, the members of the Crewe-formed UNIVERSITY—aka Zak Bowker (vocals/guitar), Ewan Barton (bass), Joel Smith (drums), and onstage presence Eddie Leigh (video games/mascot)—studied music together in college and began practicing relentlessly in Ewan Barton’s family home. The isolation of Crewe during the COVID-19 pandemic fueled focus: they jammed daily, sometimes until noise complaints, and evolved a technically complex, high-octane sound melding emo, hardcore, math-rock, and punk. Their debut EP, Title Track (2023, Transgressive Records), contains tracks such as “Notre Dame Made Out Of Flesh”—a five-minute whirlwind shifting through dozens of musical sections, punctuated by live laughter and chaos. Released on 20 June 2025 via Transgressive, their debut LP McCartney, It'll Be OK was produced at Damon Albarn’s Studio 13 with Kwes Darko. It was recorded live to preserve the raw, unpredictable energy of their earlier work.
