We present a combined study of the electronic structure of the superconducting skutterudite derivative SrPt4Ge12 by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and full-potential band structure calculations including an analysis of the chemical bonding. We establish that the states at the Fermi level originate predominantly from the Ge 4p electrons and that the Pt 5d shell is effectively full. We find excellent agreement between the measured and the calculated valence-band spectra, thereby validating that band structure calculations in combination with photoelectron spectroscopy can provide a solid basis for the modeling of superconductivity in the compound series MPt4Ge12 (M=Sr, Ba, La, Pr).