That hometown vibe: check Leicester by @takenbymarshall

Walking around those idle towns we used to grow up in, I feel an odd sense of regret. Maybe it’s because I never really took what I had for granted back then or the fact I’m slowly grieving the person I used to be as a kid.

During the London housing crisis, like many others I had no choice but to export myself back into those empty streets. It was a surreal experience going back. Walking through the parks you’d get drunk in when you were 16 & finding the graffiti & skate spots you’d spend your adolescence in, dreaming of those days when you’d finally move to the big city. Those kinder days, that in the moment felt so tedious, now feels idyllic.

I remembered those cold nights, when we’d skate through jubilee. Drinking cheap bottles of glens & romanticising something in Leicester. Buying shit sunglasses from vintage scene that we’d break in 60 seconds then robbing the local primark to reclaim those adorned sunglasses. The days we’d try to sneak into gigs, clubs & well anything under the sun, before life hit us.

Like other gen-z kids, we live our lives in two chapters: pre- pandemic & post-pandemic. Normal generations beforehand would say: childhood vs adulthood. It’s hard as we never got the chance to say goodbye to our teenage years, we spent those moments indoors instead. Turning to zoom raves & Tiktoks. Getting high in dorm rooms & monetising your existence. We never really got a uni experience- I guess that is what led us all to drop out.

These things that I took for granted before leaving Leicester came back to haunt me when I came back. I’m still coming to terms with it. But as I pack my bags to move back to the bigger city, I start to remember why I miss this place.

Stream Leicester by @takenbymarshall// directed by @andreajlino