When Ghent nightlife had something exciting on offer, chances were Dirk De Ruyck had his finger in it. From the legendary Eskimo and Belmondo parties to Culture Club, this self-made entrepreneur was involved. Later he successfully launched Eskimo Recordings, releasing albums, twelve inches and compilations from Lindström & Prins Thomas, Optimo, The Glimmers, Peter Visti, Aeroplane and Low Motion Disco, amongst many others.
Dirk’s most recent venture is SMILE MGMT an all encompassing music enterprise in which he teams up with industry veteran Ric Urmel (owner of Megadisc), and the home of established artists and new and upcoming talent such as Basto, Lazy Jay, Mustang, Montevideo, Mickey, Xinobi, Voltron, Safari, Billie and more.
SMILE offers its artists any combination of management, music publishing and A&R and with the recent creation of SMILE RECORDINGS will as of now also be able to offer pure record label services.
For its most recent venture, SMILE teamed up with the world-renowned dance label SPINNIN’ RECORDS. This brand new joint venture is their joined mission on the frontier of pushing groundbreaking new artists into the music arena. No hocus pocus, no hidden cards or tricks up their sleeve, just honest, fresh and intoxicating tunes for modern times. That you can dance to. Or not, it’s up to you!