The World Premiere of 40 Watts From Nowhere -Slamdance 2025

Sue Carpenter‘s world premiere documentary 40 Watts From Nowhere is at Slamdance 2025 this weekend. Carpenter’s film recounts her experience pioneering KBLT, Los Angeles Silver Lake’s amazing pirate radio station that operated 24/7 out of a closet in her apartment in the late 90s.

The Girls Guide to Running a Pirate Radio Station.

When she launched KBLT in 1995 during the United States low-power FM movement, she just wanted to get music out there that wasn’t getting airplay in the mainstream but she never could have predicted how much it would take off. She said the idea that “If you build it they will come” has merit because they certainly did. The LA indie music community embraced the station that so beautifully reflected the spirit of Silver Lake during that time.

DJs running the gamut from Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks, Mike Watt of the Minutemen, Don Bolles from the Germs, to garden-variety music fans playing everything from jungle and punk to vintage country and French pop. The station 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 freedom of pirate radio gave DJ’s operating outside of corporate broadcasting networks the chance to be their authentic selves, to play and say what they wanted.

Inviting strangers into her house to spin whatever the hell they wanted wasn’t always easy. There was the looming concern that the FCC would knock on the door and shut them down at anytime along with the frustration that not everyone who showed up respected KBLT’s sacred space. Carpenter paid for everything out of pocket.. equipment, styluses, receivers, antenna, headphones… a lot of headphones. Unfortunately some people stole albums, CD’s (and beer) from her which was invasive and maddening.

Station Engineer Alan Wood reflected about the sense of wonder radio created for him, “The conveyance of feelings in real time fashion grabs ones attention, that everything is next; we’ll be right back; stay tuned and then… that’s all the time we have.”

All Things Must Pass

In 1998 the FCC shut them down after they bravely put up a relay tower atop a skyscraper in Hollywood that extended the stations reach all the way to LAX. She knew it was a worthwhile risk but then it was over and everyone went their separate ways. In 2000 congress enacted the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act which prevented former Pirate Operators from obtaining the FCC’s low-power FM radio licenses.

Two years ago Carpenter was gifted footage she forgot even existed that was shot in 1998. She’d never made a film before but when she looked through the footage she could see that the whole story of KBLT was there. Bolstering the footage with then and now interviews with some of the people involved was magical. It was a gift to reconnect with people involved whom she’d lost touch with and finding they had such warm feelings about the station and that moment in time that they’d all shared. Her hope for 40 Watts From Nowhere is that people have fun watching it and walk away empowered to do what they have always wanted to do, just fucking do it, whatever it is.

Paraphrasing Musician/KBLT DJ, Don Bolles who said: When the powers that be take things away that a culture values it is the Artist’s responsibility to create it again, and again, and again.

40 Watts From Nowhere is screening Saturday 2/22 at 6:15 pm and Monday 2/24 at 10 p.m. at Quixote Studios in West Hollywood. Individual tickets are still available on the Slamdance website where you can also find information about the Slamdance Channel.

*RabbleRouse News would like to thank Annie Jeeves at Cinematic Red PR and John Wildman, Wildworks PR.