Essay Recordings was founded by Shantel and Daniel Haaksman in 1995. After the release of a few 12"es and some albums that were licensed to K7!, the company was paused from 1998 to 2002.
In 2003, Shantel and Daniel Haaksman rebooted the label again, and released the "Bucovina Club" project by Shantel, accompanied by the singles "Bucovina" and "Disko". Daniel Haaksman left Essay in 2004 to start Man Recordings.