Frustrated by what she was hearing on commercial radio in the ‘90s, a young woman builds a station from scratch and broadcasts from her Los Angeles apartment.
“40 Watts from Nowhere” is a documentary about Los Angeles pirate radio station KBLT and the 1990s low-power FM movement in the U.S. It’s based around vintage footage shot in 1998 that shows KBLT operating 24/7 out of an apartment closet in Silver Lake with DJs running the gamut from Keith Morris (Circle Jerks), Mike Watt (Minutemen) and Don Bolles (Germs) to garden-variety music fans playing everything from jungle and punk to vintage country and French pop.
Sue Carpenter started the 40-watt FM station in 1995, exploiting a legal case that allowed hundreds of low-power illegal radio operators to proliferate throughout the country and gave birth to the legal LPFM movement. Carpenter was 28 years old, a secretary and an aspiring journalist when she first set up KBLT and invited strangers into her house to spin whatever the hell they wanted. It soon took on a life of its own, drawing Mazzy Star to headline a benefit concert and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to play live in her living room.
The vintage footage captures the arc of the story, from its full-tilt heyday in the summer of 1998 to its FCC shutdown later that year. Shot by a DJ who intended to make a documentary but never did, the vintage footage is rounded out with interviews Carpenter conducted in 2023, including Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello,
Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, Germs drummer Don Bolles and pirate radio activist Stephen Dunifer.
"With her illegal station KBLT, Sue captured the attention of misfit music lovers from every walk of life . . . and the authorities.
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