Born in Manchester, England, and raised east of London, Iain Ellis spent his formative years playing, performing, and consuming a heavy (if not healthy) diet of punk rock music and football. In 1986, the young man went west to find his dreams in Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A. Instead, he picked up a PhD in American Culture Studies, writing his dissertation on 1980s American Punk Culture.

In 2000, he traveled further west, settling in Lawrence, Kansas, where he currently teaches English and Youth Culture Studies at the University of Kansas. An avowed arrested adolescent, Iain continues to follow music and sports with a passion, performing and recording periodically with his Ohio-based Britpop band, piss artists, and playing weekly with his Lawrence football team, The Sweepers.