Arndt Peltner interview: Arndt Peltner is a radio journalist & the producer & moderator of the excellent German music radio program Radio Goethe which airs Thursday nights on KUSF & is also played on 17 stations throughout the US & Canada. It's the greatest show on the planet & all should listen to it every week! Thanx so much Arndt, you're da bomb! ;) -Mikki 5/04

Arndt: I was born on July 19th 1968 in Würzburg. My family moved to Nürnberg in 1969, where I grew up, went to school, had my first kiss... stuff like that.

DML: What childhood experiences may have influenced your desire to become a radio producer/journalist and what activities have you done which led to your current position?

Arndt: I wanted to become a policeman, when I was a child. I even applied for it, but they didn't take me. I have a color problem in my eyes, that was the reason. After that I thought about becoming a sportsteacher, but in the 80s there were no jobs available, so I went on to school to study socialwork. So I focused on that for a while. Did my civil service in a children's hospital instead of going to the army. I built up a children's library there.... blablabla... worked with old people, abused kids...Then in 1992 I did an internship in San Francisco in a facility for physically and sexually abused children. And after that experience it was clear for me that I need to leave this field. In addition to that I wasn't very good in my studies. So that was that.
Thinking about my life I started to work for a small alternative radio station in Nuernberg (Radio Z). And from there it went on. What brought me there? Hm, in school I had a teacher (Guenther Koch), who was next to his job a commentator for sports for public radio. He took me sometimes, that was my first experience with radio. But I liked the idea to combine radio and socialwork, thought about a program for kids... but that was just an idea. After Radio Z, I went to Radio Gong Nuernberg, a commercial station, did an internship there, followed by another one, freelance work, finally a training in radio journalism in Nuernberg... Got a radio award for a feature about the house I lived in and in 1996 I went to San Francisco as a freelance correspondent.

DML: What brought you to the US in the first place & how did you end up in San Francisco? Does it have a sizeable German immigrant population?

Arndt: I was first in the US and San Francisco in 1987, with my brother. We toured the US from the East coast to the West coast, saw a lot. And I was curious afterwards to live here for a while. The internship for my social work program gave me the opportunity to come here for a year. I met my then girlfriend. And after a couple of years with a long distance relationship I decided to come over here in 1996.
San Francisco was built up by a lot of Germans, think about Levi Strauss or Adolph Sutro. The union movement in SF was built up by Germans. So, yes, there is long history of Germans in the city.

DML: How did the idea for Radio Goethe come about?

Arndt: Quite easy, I got here and realized that almost no German bands were played on the radio, next to Scorpions. So I went to KUSF and asked them, if they were interested in a program featuring modern German bands. And they agreed. I needed as a cultural producer an underwriter, so I went to the Goethe-Institute. Therefore the stupid name "Radio Goethe", because nobody over here can pronounce it and nobody really knows who he was.

DML: I understand the German government funds your radio show as well as the compilations you've put out. Does that ever create complications in what you want to play or include on the CD's?

Arndt: No, simply, no. They never told me what to play and what not and they don't even know what I'm putting on the compilations before they see the final product. It's a trust issue. And on top of that, I like to work by myself, if somebody would start to tell me what I can and can't do... I have to think very carefully about it.

DML: I read that Radio Goethe plays to some 2 million listeners, that's alot! Do you have alot of local listeners or are they almost all listening via the internet? What kind of responses have you had towards the show?

Arndt: I think that is wrong. With KUSF you have a potential large audience, but not all listeners in this area are listening to KUSF. I donıt know how many people I reach with the show, but it's in now 18 markets in the US and Canada and many are listening via the internet on radiogoethe.org. If you look at the guestbook you see that people are tuning in from around the country and the globe. I'm very happy about it that the show gets such a universal response, because music is a common language and should bring people together rather separate them.

DML: Does it ever drive you completely insane when Charles Vickers (who has that astrology show after RG) calls you "the jolly German"? Because it drives US up the wall! ;)

Arndt: Oh no, that's Charles J, he is actually a nice guy, sometimes I have visitors. Once two young women from Berlin, good looking women. And he asked them to sit on his lap, but they declined very strongly... So, he is a bit jealous that I have women in the studio and he has to talk about the stars ;-) (just kidding)

DML: You've interviewed alot of people for your show and website. Is there anyone or even a particular interview that stands out as a favorite for you?

Arndt: The good thing about this show is you meet a lot of people, can ask musicians, sometimes some of them I wanted to talk to when I was growing up, like Drahdiwaberl or Eroc. I became friends with some of the bands, that is very nice. You meet those creative people in private, that gives a new dimension to their music.

DML: The last 2 months had 3 German bands all touring the US at about the same time - Kraftwerk, Wolfsheim & Einstürzende Neubauten. Did Radio Goethe have anything to do with this?

Arndt: Simply no, I wish... but no. The bands toured on their own, I only did some promotion for Wolfsheim...I could say that helped, but I donıt see that impact of my show... maybe some day ;-)

DML: I recall an e-mail campaign last year, I believe, where you were trying to get written proof that there was a significant interest here in German music. How did that go & what was the reaction from the government and record labels to the results?

Arndt: I produced a report for German Public Radio afterwards, the German government was very amazed about all those Emails I received and the official German Music Export office www.germansounds.de is finally established. I think with all that response it proved that Radio Goethe is not simply playing music over here, rather there is a big demand for German music. People are beginning to realize in Germany, that their music scene could have an impact.

DML: You play a very diverse blend of music on your show but you must have some favorite artists. Who might they be and are there any American artists that you find particularly interesting?

Arndt: Of course I like certain bands, like Infamis, Shiny Gnomes, Megaherz, Faust... but it's more certain songs, that I like and play over and over. And of course I like international bands, I grew up on them, like AC/DC, Queen, Pink Floyd, and of course New Model Army. US bands, Iım a big fan of the early Pearl Jam, I like bands like Swell, Sixteen Horsepower, Stan Ridgway... there is a lot of good music over here, you just have to look for it.

DML: Congratulations on your award for your piece on "Moorsoldaten". What did you do for this that made it so exemplary?

Arndt: I donıt know, it was my first English language piece.

DML: We probably hear more German music on your show in one night than a typical German hears on a popular radio station in a week. What do you think of the music scene in Germany, how record labels treat the bands, etc... What, if anything, do you think would make it better?

Arndt: I think the German music scene has so much to offer and you can hear the diversity on Radio Goethe. The problem over there are the radio stations, that are first of all horribly formatted. For example they are playing a mix of rock and pop or only dancefloor. With that sound you never promote your homegrown bands. For example, bands like Sonic Front or Infamis are very, very good, but you wonıt hear them on the radio. Why? In addition to that, German radio stations are looking way too much to British and American charts. Music directors over there tell you, that nobody wants to hear German music. Thatıs bogus, the responses I get show me, that a lot of people want to hear German bands and are often surprised how good German bands are. Itıs a shame that many Germans find that out by tuning in to Radio Goethe.
Iım all for a quota system on German radio, like 50 percent have to be German productions.

DML: What does the future hold for you, personally, and for Radio Goethe? Any plans for a Radio Goethe sponsored US tour of bands at all?

Arndt: That would be nice, but it's not possible without the backing of a big sponsor. I would love to bring every year four bands over here and let them tour, but this is just a dream right now. Iım concentrating on finding more stations over here, my goal is 30 stations carrying Radio Goethe. Maybe some more compilations, we'll see. It depends a lot on the support I get.

DML: Thanx so much for the interview, is there anything you'd like to add?

Arndt: Thank you... yes, keep on listening to Radio Goethe and spread the word ;-)

More at:

• Radio Goethe
• DML interview with Arndt for RG's 10th year anniversary!!