2023-12-21 01:29:35
He was 12 years old when he discovered the Beatles on television. An impact that shook his head and his insides. The Liverpool quartet had already broken up by then, but the rhythm of ‘She Loves You’ drove him crazy. He felt that there was nothing more alive or pulsating. Conclusion: welcome to rock. «I saw them in a program that recovered images of them from 1963. I was amazed! I ordered a cassette of theirs for Reyes, a compilation, and it changed my life. From that moment on, rock accompanies me everywhere. I have it inside me,” says Pedro Learreta (Bilbao, 1967), professor of Civil Law at the University of Deusto and a practicing lawyer for more than three decades. His specialty is the field of litigation and arbitration. Nothing to do with music or literature. Or if?
Stealing hours from sleep and time from his weekends, he has completed his first novel, ‘Slavery Records’ (Liburuak), with the tenacity, order and concert of a legal scholar. The entire plot revolves around a second-hand record store located on a quiet street in the nightlife district of West Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is a place that stores more than 75,000 vinyls and heroically surfs the reconversion of the market and the industry. Everything flows, comes and goes, in ‘Slavery Records’, with recurring characters such as Jason Gallant and William Campbell, as well as cameos from the likes of Nick Hornby.
The experiences, sorrows and joys flow non-stop, in a game of mirrors and confessions that grow like a snowball to the rhythm of rock until they crash against reality. There are no downtimes and more than one surprise.
The title itself gets straight to the point: Slavery Records is the name of the establishment and also alludes to the owner’s last name, Susan Slavery. «She wanted clarity and rhythm. That is basic in any discipline, also in law. In my specialty, you also have to know how to relate the facts in litigation. They are not fictional stories, but something truthful and sustainable with evidence. Legal prose can also be developed brilliantly. “You have to do without the superfluous and not give in.” With that attitude, it has not taken her too long to polish her literary style and spread her wings as a novelist.
Night work
Between 2018 and 2021, combining his hobby with work at the University of Deusto and at the law firm, he managed to find time at night and practice writing stories in creative writing workshops. A big fan of Bob Dylan, the Stones, Paul Weller, Learreta says that he dreamed of being a rock star, “but I don’t have the skills” although it consoles him to think “that the second best way to be a rock star is to become a lawyer.” Seriously, I’m not complaining.
He already has a second novel in mind, with an equally musical theme, which will be set in London in the 60s and will have a cast of real and fictional characters from the rock scene.
#Civil #Law #literary #rock