Ten Years with Eskimo: From Soundcloud to Ghent
I first came across the Nu Disco wave in the late 2000s, and it hit me like a brick. Chords, vocals, beats, all coming together in a way that just felt alive. Just like back then. At the time, I was listening to Downtown Party Network’s “Days Like These” and following artists like Aeroplane and Flight Facilities. That’s how I found Eskimo Recordings, based in Ghent, Belgium, the label where Aeroplane was releasing tracks. One of my favorite moments was hearing their remix of “Paris” by Friendly Fires. Pure bliss.
I started making tracks in that vein just for fun. The years before, I had been working in TV and advertising music, but the financial crisis of 2009 wiped out most of my contacts. Around the same time, Soundcloud was emerging as a new platform to share music. A community formed quickly, with people commenting on each other’s tracks and DJ mixes. A&Rs were scouting talent, keeping an eye out for new discoveries. It was exciting to be part of something global, connecting producers, DJs, and industry people in real time.
I kept producing, slowly gaining traction. Around that time, a new YouTube channel, Majestic Casual, appeared. They curated new music from emerging artists in a fresh way, with their iconic logo and moody photos, and quickly gained millions of followers. One day, they posted a track I had just uploaded called “You Make Me Feel Good.” It shot to number one on Hype Machine, which was huge at the time.
That caught the attention of an A&R at Eskimo Recordings. “You Make Me Feel Good” kept racking up plays, and before I knew it, I was signing the track. Suddenly, I was releasing on the same label as Aeroplane in 2013. From there, I just kept working, night and day. My studio was in the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. My only distractions were road bike rides around the nearby lake or hikes in the woods.
Over the years, I worked closely with the Eskimo A&R, mostly over email, sometimes on a call, or during occasional trips to Ghent. It wasn’t just sending files back and forth. We discussed arrangements, mixes, artwork, release plans, and sometimes just music in general. Forming that working relationship, step by step, day by day, made me feel like part of a bigger team. Even though I wasn’t an employee and came from a different country, it felt good to contribute to something larger than myself.
The debut album, Panorama Pacifico, was released back in 2016. Shortly before, I transformed“You Make Me Feel Good” into a vocal track after coming across Scavenger Hunt from LA, which worked out really well and added a whole new layer to the song. Eskimo invited me to Ghent, a beautiful city, and showed incredible hospitality. They took me to restaurants I’ll never forget. The label boss pulled me aside and said, “Tim, I don’t think I need you too close, but I think we can do good business together.” That felt like a quiet nod that I was legit.
After the first album, I wasn’t sure I could do another one. Each release came with its own highs and lows: doubt about whether the tracks were strong enough, moments of emptiness after finishing something I had poured myself into, and the pressure of knowing the next step was already waiting. Yet somehow, the energy to go on never disappeared.
A notable moment came in 2017 when the single “Northern Lights” with David Harks hit. Majestic Casual picked it up once again, and a bunch of Spotify playlists added it to their rotations. The track quickly became even bigger than “You Make Me Feel Good,” giving me a real sense that my music could reach further and resonate in new ways.
Album number two, Solar Nights, followed in 2019, and a third, Reunion, completed my decade with the label. With each project, I learned to refine ideas, trust the process, and keep creating even when the path forward wasn’t always clear. Those moments of uncertainty were balanced by bursts of inspiration, and eventually, the reward of seeing a finished album made it all worthwhile.
Nine years went by, and by the end of it, I felt it was time to move on, to do my own thing and become the captain of my own little ship. It wasn’t an easy decision, so I decided to take one extra year to keep at it. But the need in me kept growing, and the only salvation was a fresh start. Over the years, I had also come to feel that the Satin Jackets brand had grown strong enough to stand on its own, no longer needing to be tied to a label.
Looking back, those ten years with Eskimo helped to shape Satin Jackets. They were full of hands-on experiences, lessons about production and the music business, and growth that only comes from long-term collaboration. I’ll always be grateful to the people at Eskimo Recordings. And on a lighter note, they also introduced me to some of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. If you ever go to Ghent, try them out.
