In the 1990s, Radio Tonka in The Hague in the Netherlands was, worldwide, one of the most prominent pirate radio stations. Housed in a squat, it was the literal temporary autonomous zone that open-minded broadcast buccaneers aspired to in the pre-internet, post-FM radio era.
Back in 1997, the pirate radio station I founded in New York City, called free103point9, was producing “The Microbroadcasting Hour,” interviewing various scofflaw transmitters about their craft. This interview, from Dec. 23, 1997, includes myself (DJ Dizzy at the time), Mr. E (also from free103point9), and Dr. Bob, who was part of Radio Tonko, and also some American radio stations. At the time, Radio Tonka was in a squatted villa in Zorgvliet. “The building had been empty for twenty years before we squatted it,” according to founder Peter Bos in this Den Haag Centraal feature story. “The owner lived in Monaco, there was a for sale sign on the roof for twenty years. But the people who put a note in the mailbox out of interest got no answer. That's when we decided to squat it.” The station was in a number of squats over the years until a final eviction in 2003 reported live on the air. After that, the station became a legal channel under Den Haag FM, then called Stadsomroep Den Haag.
This interview took place at the free103point9 Project Space at 97 S. 6th St. btw Bedford and Berry Aves. in Brooklyn. It is a real relic of its era, a pirate radio broadcast in Brooklyn about other pirate radio broadcasts around the world in 1997. Tune in!
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