By Maryam Patel
A creative director who opened his own studio in Leicester in September has since been hit with the news it now faces being demolished within a year.
Mexi, 24, a creative director in the Punjabi music industry who also works full time in a creative marketing agency, opened ranggstudios, in September, in empty warehouse space on the floor above his office in St John Street, Leicester.
But, since opening, he has learnt the building is due to be knocked down within a year.
“The long-term aspect is a bit of a double-edged sword,” said Mexi.
Mexi opened his first studio on the ground floor two years ago, and then bought the unit for ranggstudios in November 2024, which is when he began the renovation, creating a series of sets which people can hire for any purpose, including as backgrounds for TikTok or music recordings.
A series of photos ranggstudios during renovation.
Coming from a creative family, with a music-producer and artist brother and a lyricist father, Mexi always had support.
Frequent trips to Birmingham and London for projects highlighted a lack of local facilities for Mexi, prompting him to push for Leicester to be seen as a creative hub.
“Leicester is my home and my hub; you can create it to what you want it to be,” he added.
People have travelled to use ranggstudios and Mexi says this is his greatest success, even having requests from Denmark.
In late November, ranggstudios was used for an event where TikTok influencer PanchBantz invited many content creators to the studio to film together.
Mexi said: “The most impactful feedback I got was from Panch’s event, when people said they’re actually really happy that they have a space to be able to create.”
The leaseholders of the estate have guaranteed ranggstudios a year, which motivates Mexi to make the most of it in that time.
A series of photos of the different sets available at ranggstudios.
His long-term plan is to aim to get enough traction to be able to open another studio in Leicester.
He believes it is difficult to find a space in Leicester, as he prefers older buildings with heritage and history.
“When I step in here now, I think the same floors that I’m standing on people have built mad things,” said Mexi.
“To me that’s worth more than just a brand-new building, we’re tearing down things that have built this country or built us.”
Ranggstudios is intended to be an accessible space for anyone working in the creative industry.
“For me this is not a business, this is a social event,” he said.
For more information ranggstudios can be found on Instagram and TikTok.
