Today we are speaking to Dee Sada about the show For the Lost: Sonic Waves aboard Theatreship which is happening this Sunday at the Thames Festival in Tower Hamlets. Today we find out all about the show.
Hello! Tell us about yourself ?
Hi, my name is Dee Sada and I’m a musician, curator and radio presenter based in east London. I host a weekly show on Resonance FM called For the Lost which is an exploration of the curious, dark and surreal. Through a curated blend of radio plays, poetry, experimental soundscapes, live performances and discussions, the show journeys into the intriguing corners of culture and the imagination. I’ve also been curating events for the last 15 years at venues such as Cafe OTO and I’m really excited to be curating For the Lost: Sonic Waves at Totally Thames Festival.
Tell us a bit about the show For the Lost: Sonic Waves.
Set aboard the Theatreship in Canary Wharf, For The Lost: Sonic Waves explores the power of sound and performance as tools of documentation and transformation in creating a new archive of imagined and forgotten histories. This live programme brings together performers whose work explores our relationship with nature, myth and memory.
For centuries, the River Thames has been a boundary and a conduit, a force that divides and connects, a supporter of new life whilst also a resting place. Drifting between fact and folklore, For the Lost: Sonic Waves tunes into the river’s ancient past including drowned relics, found objects and ghostly memories. This event explores fact and myth, and forgotten and imagined histories through sonic performance and storytelling.
The line up includes Massimo Braghieri and Dee Sada, O M E N S and Milo Thesiger-Meacham.
# How are rehearsals going?
Really well, thanks! We were at the Theatreship a few weeks ago for the filming of a short documentary created by filmmaker Fotis Begklis which is about the history of the Theatreship and the For the Lost event which was great fun!
# What can you tell us about the stage set?
It will be a multifunctional set up for a live soundtrack, music performances and poetry. We will be using a projector and visuals but also want to lean in to the unique environment of the beautiful Theatreship.
Tell us a little bit about the rest of the cast
It’s not a cast as such but we have a number of amazing performers on the bill including:
Milo Thesiger-Meacham works in sound, film, radio, independent literature, composition and performance. His most recent writing featured in an edition of the Big Issue curated by 10Foot, Britain’s most prolific graffiti tagger. As part of the European Capital of Culture 2022, Milo created a twenty-two-hour audio work using six thousand pieces of found material. Last year he was shortlisted for the Prototype Prize, and this year he published his first book, Audible Heat, with Tenement Press. Its audio counterpart is out on World Service. Milo is Artistic Director of the community arts radio stations Resonance FM and Resonance Extra.
Milo will perform a new audiovisual work which live soundtracks previously unseen, anonymous tourist footage of the River Thames found online after years of obscurity.
Massimo Braghieri is a multifaceted force in the world of music, whose journey spans a diverse array of roles and experiences. From his early days as an organ soloist and conductor to his work as a composer, arranger, and sound engineer, Massimo’s musical odyssey has been remarkably dynamic.
In 2008, Massimo’s evolution as a DJ took flight, especially within the queer scene. His signature blend of indie-dance and techno captivated audiences and became a staple at legendary London venues, earning acclaim across Europe, Canada, and Asia. More recently, he composed the soundtrack of a short film that got selected for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, marking yet another milestone in his rich and varied career.
O M E N S:
Emerging from the smoke-choked threshold between the physical and the spectral, Omens are a clandestine duo conjuring sound from the ruins of the present. Analogue resonance, decaying tape loops, and fractured electronic samples that ooze on some forgotten plane. They play in the debris of lost intentions and the persistent hum of what could have been.
A luxury séance. An intoxicated FaceTime from the void. Monoliths with no one to worship. A long forgotten broadcast still transmitting. The pulse of a security alarm in an abandoned shopping centre. A sonic archaeology of cultural entropy. No explanation. Only erosion. This is not music for the living; it is music that remembers death.
What is the most challenging thing about doing the show?
When you’re curating and performing at an event, the most challenging side is being a host, curator and performer all in one! Whether it’s ensuring the artists’ technical specs have been communicated or you have time to tune your guitar before the performance, it certainly involves a lot of juggling and organising before and during the event!
What have been some of the best highlights since doing the show?
Definitely connecting and working with Totally Thames and Theatreship. The arts and music scene in London is growing and it’s exciting to work with new people and venues who have a similar artistic outlook. Having the support and backing of these established organisations is really empowering as a creative as well as having the platform to share your work with a wide and diverse audience.
What is the best reaction you have had from an audience member?
I was supporting the musician Colin Stetson at Round Chapel in Hackney and an audience member spoke to me during the evening and then sent me a long message on social media about how my music really touched and inspired him. That person is Massimo and now all these years later, we have connected creatively and are working together so it’s a real full circle moment!
If people want to follow you on social media where can they find you?
https://www.instagram.com/forthelostradio/
https://www.instagram.com/deesada1/
Ticket link to the show:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/guest-event-for-the-lost-sonic-waves-tickets-1555476123959
Finally in three words why should people come to your show?
Memory, myth and music.
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