Afion

Afion is an ethno and world music band formed in Zagreb in 2003 by musicians from Croatia and North Macedonia, which makes it a Croatian-Macedonian band, and its name is the Macedonian word for opium, the poppy. Afion takes traditional songs from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia and turns them into its own arrangements: an acoustic sound with the energy of a rock and roll band, sung in Croatian, Macedonian and other Balkan languages.

The debut album Afion came out in 2006 on Aquarius Records, a collection of traditional songs from Croatia, Kosovo and Macedonia in new arrangements, among them "Baroš, oj Barica", "Jovka Kumanovka", "Stamena", "Slavuj" and "Dej mi, Bože". It was sung by Lidija Dokuzović and Marijela Bagarić, with Danijel Maoduš on guitar and charango, Nenad Kovačić on drums and percussion, Tatjana Bijelić on flute and Dario Pavić on double bass. "Baroš, oj Barica" was included on the compilation of songs nominated for the 2007 Porin awards.

The second album, Čudni svati (2008), was recorded at the Šišmiš studio in Velika Gorica and, like the first, produced by Zoran Švigir. Josip Mazić took over the bass and the Macedonian musician Aleksandar Jovevski joined on kaval, tambura and gajde. Its twelve songs move between the two traditions, from "Tica moja", "Ptica vuga" and "Zvečer" to "Karanfile", "Malkite momi", "Čerkica", "Mitra delija" and "Lozeno devojko". Afion songs also appeared on the Croatian world music compilations made for WOMEX in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

In 2011 the director Marko Dimić made the documentary Disclosing Afion for Croatian Radiotelevision, about the band's search for its own relationship with traditional music; it was shown at ZagrebDox in 2013. After a break of several years Afion returned in 2020 with a third album, Treći bilbil, with "Cijelo ljeto", "Žute kruške", "Jelica", "Tri bilbila" and "Šošana".

By then the band had played more than 500 concerts in Croatia and across Europe, in clubs and at major festivals. In 2022 it presented Treći bilbil at the Krk Etno Fest, with Lidija Dokuzović on vocals, Aleksandar Jovevski on kaval, Josip Mazić on bass, Danijel Maoduš on guitars and Nenad Kovačić on percussion and vocals.