LA Made Presents: 40 Watts From Nowhere
About the Event
LA Made presents a screening of Sue Carpenter's documentary, 40 Watts From Nowhere. Afterward, there will be a post-screening Q&A with Sue Carpenter, Bob Forrest (former KBLT DJ and singer in Thelonius Monster), Don Bolles (Former KBLT DJ and drummer for the Germs), and moderated by Alex Cohen.
Frustrated by what she was hearing on commercial radio, Sue Carpenter built a 40-watt FM station in 1995 and ran it out of her Los Angeles apartment, exploiting a legal case that allowed hundreds of low-power, illegal radio operators to proliferate across 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.
This program is made possible by the LA Made Fund.
Reservations are not required but are highly encouraged. To reserve your seat, please go to this link to find the event. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
For disability-related accommodations, please call (213) 228-7430 at least five business days prior to the event. The City will make every effort to accommodate requests received with less notice.
