Žiga i Bandisti

Žiga i Bandisti is a Croatian ethno band from Međimurje, the country's northernmost region, active since 2006. It plays the traditional songs of Međimurje in modern arrangements. The band is on Muzika-Balkan as a Croatian group of that region: its leader, the singer Mirko Švenda "Žiga", was born in Čehovec in Međimurje and, in a 2016 school interview, was introduced as a folk musician from Međimurje who works with the region's music.

Švenda's love of music came from his late mother, known as "Žigova Mare", from whom he took the stage name Žiga. He sang solo already in primary school and founded his first band, Amor, at fourteen. He then worked as a singer and musician, among other things in the backing band of Tomislav Ivčić, and after Ivčić's death he turned to the folk songs of his region, sung in a modern way.

The Bandisti are a brass band without clarinet or saxophone: trumpets, trombone, baritone horn and tuba, with drums added. Beside the old songs they sometimes play modern covers of well-known hits, such as Tajči's "Hajde da ludujemo". Their first albums were KonkrETNO (2006) and cvETNO protuLETje (2008). In February 2009 the band lost its member Matija Škvorc, honoured with a memorial concert a month later, and that same year it won the MEF festival with "Od Mure se do Drave".

Švenda also leads a cimbal band, has released albums on his own label Muraland-Švenda and on Croatia Records, and by 2016 had made eleven albums, nine of them of folk music. His song "Kajkavci", recorded with Vid Balog and Adam Končić, celebrates the kajkavian speech of Međimurje, Zagorje and Podravina. The line-up named by Croatian Wikipedia is Švenda on vocals, Mario Magaš and Luka Dominik on trumpet, Petar Prepelić on trombone, Danijel Čok on baritone horn, Nikola Novak on tuba and Filip Krznar on drums.