Four university students gathered around a drum kit in a dimly lit Manchester bedroom, playing covers to escape their "pretty floppy lives." It wasn't meant to be anything more than that - a refuge from burnout, a chance to make noise with friends, maybe order some Chinese food later. But sometimes the best art emerges from the spaces between intention and accident, from moments when no one's trying to make history.

This is how Westside Cowboy began: not with a manifesto or a five-year plan, but with the simple desire to make something authentic. The band - comprising Aoife Anson-O'Connell on bass, Jimmy Bradbury and Reuben Haycocks on guitars, and Paddy Murphy on drums - have rapidly evolved from those casual jam sessions into one of Manchester's most intriguing musical propositions, crafting a sound that draws as much from traditional American folk as it does from British indie sensibilities.

Their story reads like a perfectly scripted indie film setup. "We all met in 2021 when we moved to Manchester for Uni," Murphy explains. "Me, Reuben and Aoife met because we all lived in the same block, and me and Jimmy had already been playing together in a band before that. He works at Johnny Roadhouse Music on the Oxford Road, so he fixes everyone's gear."

What began as an excuse to play cover songs quickly became more substantial. "It was an excuse to hang out and play Hank Williams songs," Murphy recalls. "It was just a laugh, really. One thing led to another, though, and some original songs started appearing, and the more we played them, the louder they got."

This natural evolution from covers to originals produced their debut single, 'I've Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)' - a track that emerged "maybe in the first three" songs they wrote together. The single's success, breaking into the Top 10 Vinyl Records chart, suggested Westside Cowboy had tapped into something special.

Their latest single, 'Shells', represents another step forward in their sonic journey. Reuben Haycocks offers a thoughtful explanation of the track's meaning: "'Shells' is broadly about acceptance. Whether it is the acknowledgement of what you have or the acknowledgement that change is inevitable. The song is loosely based on a film in which the character masters this. I am yet to reach this point."

The band's approach to songwriting reveals a sophisticated understanding of pop's emotional power. As Haycocks explains, "I think there are always themes that songwriters are drawn to, and I think that they are generally similar across most styles of writing. I am drawn to the idea of a love song as a way of hyperbolising your experience. Unfortunately, we don't all live in our favourite songs, but a good love song is close enough to our own experience to connect to us on an emotional level but lofty enough to give us an escape and seemingly lift us out of our own unremarkable experiences."

This philosophy - finding the extraordinary within the ordinary - permeates everything Westside Cowboy do. The response is refreshingly unpretentious when asked about the message they want listeners to take away from their music: "Not too sure, we haven't really thought about it before. At the end of the day, we're just four mates who love to play music, pop music. more than anything else. I guess it would be, 'Don't think, just enjoy it'. It's music for everyone, we hope."

The band's trajectory continues to accelerate. They're currently finishing their first EP, scheduled for release in the summer, and their live calendar is filling up with a number of events. "We have some really cool festival slots coming up that we're excited for: Green Man, End of the Road... we're incredibly lucky and feel very grateful for all of it."

Their ambitions, while substantial, remain grounded in authenticity and community. "We make a bucket list every year," they share. "The one last year we said that we wanted to play the Ritz (we'd played two gigs at cafes at the time), and it somehow happened!" But beyond the venue wish list, their goals reflect a deeper purpose: "I suppose our main goal at the moment is just to have our music connect with as many people as it can. Whilst we're doing this, though, we'd also like to be able to lift up the people and causes we love, too. Getting to do this is such an insane luxury that we want to use our music as a vehicle for giving as much as we possibly can."

This commitment to community extends to their festival appearances, where they're as excited to watch other acts as they are to perform. They enthusiastically name-check fellow Manchester band Holly Head, who they're keen to see when they play Dot To Dot, describing them as having "the best grooves and live show going. A generational rhythm section on show there." Their festival experience varies - while Reuben has been attending Green Man "every year since like 2013 or something stupid", guitarist Jimmy has never attended a festival before. "I guess he'll be having a trial by fire," the band quip.

As our conversation winds down, they share two pieces of information - one whimsical, one significant. "Babies are born without kneecaps," they insist, before adding, "We're also in the final for Glasto emerging talent" - which they've since won, 'FYI' - "that's maybe just exciting for us, though." Their final message combines both playful persistence and social consciousness: "We're not joking. Babies are seriously born without kneecaps. Donate to Medical Aid For Palestinians if you can!" ■