This year Forestdelic Records is celebrating a decade of its existence. The label family is marking it with a 10-year-anniversary compilation, and it’s coming out today! For the occasion, The Prophet got together with label head Darko Kala to ask a bit about the journey so far and the future ahead.

LISTEN to the 10-year Forestdelic VA while you read deeper into the forest HERE. And check out the bonus FORESTDELIC FAMILY QUIZ here!

Tell us a bit about this anniversary compilation. 

I can gladly say that after this decade-long Forestdelic journey, since the first compilation Wicked Gail’s Trail, we gathered together 15 different artists and 9 DJs who represent the Forestdelic sound around the world with their unique styles. All of these artists are featured in this compilation coming out today, on the same date when we released our first label compilation: 13th April. Check out our label and get a free copy!

Who are the featured artists… the ones who have been there from the very beginning, those who have joined in the meantime, and anyone who contributed to shaping the Forestdelic storyline? 

The very first version of the logo by Joe The Glow – Gail, the wicked old Ent

Originally the label was started by me, Darko (Kala), and my good friend Dejan (Skoknipalokni). Not long after, our friends from Macedonia joined, Yudhisthira and Phobos Azazel, and soon after that our Swedish friend Mechanical Species too. Next to these artists, also with us from the start was DJ Damzah, who put in a lot of effort and worked on making compilations and spreading the sound. And last but not least, I must mention our designer Joe (The Glow), responsible for creating our logo and our Ent! We then continued our search for artists who could also fit with their style into our story, and they became: Lacerta, Manju, Anthill, Loom, Slide, Trold, Shadow Shaman, Once Upon A Time, Boogie Knight, Fantazma, Bhangra, Thelios, and BenSolo. I must also mention here all the DJs who were with us since the beginning and a big part of the label and helping to spread the music: Skoknipalokni, Dr Space, Oak Tales, Pila, Back to Mars, Pin Pin, Tsune and Mnogook.

The Forestdelic story began when you explored the weirdest, most twisted sounds in the back of the woods where Gail, the wicked old Ent lives… How far into that forest have you gone since then, and what else have you discovered? 

After moving from Macedonia to Slovenia and exploring all those deep and wicked forests, one day I met Gail. He was a very old ent living in those deep forests. I realized he was not an ordinary tree, so I went closer to him and he told me the story that he had kept for a long time. This story made and shaped the Forestdelic sound. He told me that I needed to gather the grooviest, most melodic and funkiest artists from around the world, and spread this sound that he showed me:) Since then, he has grown even more, still living there in those woods, but we also get small trees from this forest and plant them around the globe. The trees are growing very nicely and the Forestdelic sound is very well accepted all around.

The flyer (designed by Jure Mali) of the very first party before becoming a label, where the guys came up with the name ‘Forestdelic Records’.

What is the difference or the similarity between decent Forestdelia then and today?

More or less it is the same music. I can just say that production-wise we grew up and we gathered into the crew some new and young artists who keep to the more modern side of psytrance. All our older producers keep the spirit but also try to follow and spice up their music with some modern psytrance vibes.

During this past decade, we’ve also had a 2-year global lockdown… How has this affected /or not/ Forestdelic? 

The global lockdown was a shock, not just for musicians, but for the whole of mankind. We also felt this in Forestdelic, and we were scared of what was going to happen. In the beginning, artists found it as a good escape from all those parties and having more time for production, so in the first months, a lot of music was made. But with time and how everything was being prolonged, we also started to lose the feeling and will for making tunes, because you didn’t have where to test them, to receive some feedback from people, the only thing you could do was send some new track to friends, who would tell you “yes, it’s a good track”:) But this was not the real feedback that we get at parties or festivals. Luckily, after the first year of the lockdown, some of us were able to play already at some parties, so we got the inspiration back. Thankfully, all this finished after 2 years and now we are back on track in full power, so we can celebrate the 10 years of our label around many countries’ parties and festivals.

The first VA Wicked Gail’s Trail was released on April 13, 2013.

About the 10th anniversary season… Besides the compilation, how else are you celebrating this milestone? 

The celebration of 10 years of Forestdelic Records started in Dubai and India. We started with a smaller party in Dubai as a warm-up, and it came to an end with a very nice party with super energy. Then we moved down to India where we had a very good and super crowded party. The “tree” grows over there very well:) After this, we scheduled a party in Berlin, and after this, we have a Balkan Tour with 10 parties in the home of Forestdelic, Slovenia. Then we move to Croatia and at the end to Macedonia. All these parties are happening in April. After this, we have already scheduled celebrations in Denmark and Sweden, and the biggest one will be, of course, at OZORA. Also after Ozora, we have some already scheduled 10-year-anniversary gigs in Switzerland and Brazil, and we are still in talks for even more celebrations around the world with more organizers.

Any last messages?

Thank you very much for the invite and all the support that RadiOzora and Ozora Festival are giving to our label. We will work even more to spread the good vibe and funky psychedelia around<3
From the bottom of our hearts,
Forestdelic Records Crew

Cover Artwork: Fernando Fetex