THE Sarcastix ARE DAVID VESEY AND RICHARD BROOKER.
RECORDED FROM 1983 - 1985
THE SARCASTIX MUSIC HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED.
album coming soon.
ABOUT THE SARCASTIX
In 1980, Richard Brooker and David Vesey met at an audiovisual production house, Jim Sant’ Andrea, in New York City, but quickly realized they were both transplants from Detroit, Michigan. With a shared love for music and culture, Richard and David became best friends and formed The Sarcastix.
The SARCASTIX were a bright glow that burned briefly in lower Manhattan, 1983-1985. They were a “power duo” before that was a thing. A meeting of the minds, kindred spirits, David and Richard got together in downtown lofts to write and play music together.
Mostly instrumental and mostly original, their music was both composed and improvised. They described their musical style as “Techno-Surf” - with influences from The Ventures, The Raybeats, Yardbirds, Kraftwerk, and The Clash, as well as their shared roots in the late 60s music scene in Detroit (Richard played and recorded with The HP Movement, opening for groups like Procol Harum and Country Joe and the Fish at the Grande Ballroom).
Their gear consisted of electric guitars - David played a vintage Fiesta Red Fender Duo-Sonic while Richard played his heavily modified ’66 Fender Telecaster “shop project”. A couple old Fender amps, a smattering of effects pedals, Roland drum and bass machines were used. Sometimes a Kramer Duke bass was added as an overdub.
Most of their sessions were self-recorded on cassette recorders - a 1st generation Sony Walkman, as well as a Yamaha 4-track and a Teac. The original low-tech recordings are the remaining legacy of their friendship and musical collaboration.
Currently, the music is being re-digitized for release on major streaming platforms.
STAY TUNED
THE SARCASTIX
RICHARD BROOKER
GUITARS. VOCALS. BASS. BASS MACHINE. DRUM MACHINE.
Richard now lives in Connecticut and regularly performs with The Porch Brothers.
DAVID VESEY
Guitars. Vocals.
Before his death in 2005, David was a photographer living in New York City.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
A SOCIAL MEDIA POST ON FATHER’S DAY 2025 BROUGHT THIS MUSIC BACK FROM THE 80’S.
When David Vesey died in 2005, he left one of his guitars to his grandson, Harrison, who was only 5 months old at the time. Unfortunately, due to David’s untimely death, David and Harrison never met.
David’s daughter, Melanie, in honor of her Father, had her son recreate the image of her father with the guitar, as seen in the video above.
In a Father’s Day tribute, Melanie posted the photo of the two of them on social media.
Shortly after posting the tribute photo, Melanie received a message from David’s bandmate, Richard Brooker, who told her that he had all of The SARCASTIX recordings. And would she like them?
Melanie was shocked and absolutely thrilled by this discovery, as she didn’t know this music existed. Richard sent some digital files of the songs and after a listen Melanie instantly knew that she needed to release this music.
Melanie, who had worked at a record label and owns two promotions companies, was the perfect person to support this music making it’s way into the world.
Melanie is currently in the process of having the music re-digitized so it can be released on streaming platforms.