𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

When My Chemical Romance headlined Wembley for three sold-out shows in July, for many it was a trip down memory lane to a time when they classed themselves as “emo” – wearing black, having piercings and listening to alternative music.

But for others, this was never just a phase of their youth. This was a way of life.

Sophie Baxter, 31, from Hull, describes herself as alternative and runs a social group for “emos, goths and moshers” to meet like-minded people who “understand where you’re coming from”.

“I think people who are not alternative often see it as a form of rebellion or a movement but it isn’t, in my opinion anyway, it’s just a lifestyle and a way of expressing who you are,” she says.

The group, called Never a Phase, meets regularly in Hull and now has more than 2,000 followers on Instagram.

Sophie says she set it up after finding it “really hard to meet people on the same wavelength” in corporate spaces, and how she felt it was important to meet friends “you can be your 100% authentic self with”.

She believes people are “very expressive with their style and music choices” in their teenage years, but society and the demands of fitting in at work means those people eventually feel they have to “squash themselves”.

But deep down, the desire to be alternative never leaves them.

She adds: “You get to a certain level, maybe as you get to late twenties, early thirties, where you think, actually, I can be an emo, I can be alternative, I can be a little bit weird. I’m still a good person.”