OBSESSIONS: PEDRO
Under the alias Pedro, James Rutledge creates pretty, cottage electronica that draws upon influences as disparate as Albert Ayler, Fennesz, Arvo Part and Public Enemy. Rutledge claims the intent of his eponymous debut album, out now on Melodic records, was to take a hip-hop aesthetic and expand its range of references to include 20th-century classical, jazz, 2-step and early electronic music. DAVID HEMINGWAY
Pedro on The Yorkshire Ripper
"Peter Sutcliffe - The Yorkshire Ripper - was a serial killer from the north of England. He murdered 13 women in the late '70s. I became 'interested' in him when I moved to the area. I had studied English at university but hadn't read any crime literature, so I tried to read all the classic crime writing. I discovered an author called Gordon Burn. He also writes fiction but his book on the Yorkshire Ripper, Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son, was amazing. It's not sensational or trashy in any way. The Yorkshire Ripper prompted a lot of great journalism that captured Yorkshire's mood (dim, orange street-lamps, rolling surroundings, dirty stone houses). People, especially women, were terrified of leaving their houses in the five or six years leading up to his arrest. One man eluded the police and brought a country to a standstill. That was terrible but also fascinating. I'm not interested in crime in a rubbernecking way. It's important to try and understand why these atrocities happen. There is also the distinct possibility that he had an accomplice. Then there were the hoax tapes, sent to the police, which send shivers down my spine every time I hear them. I just read everything I see about the case. People will talk about murderers in conversation and I will mutter weird facts, but everyone knows I'm not a psycho. I think…"