Matmatah were a popular French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 rock band. Their popularity also extends to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, where they have played in many rock shows in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 (Bombay), Pondicherry and Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 (Madras).

History

The band was established in 1992 when Stan, who at the time was a student pursuing study of Advanced Mathematics in Brest (western Brittany, France), met Sammy who was studying electric engineering in the same city, where they both come from. Both were guitarists and together formed a chanson

Chanson

A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...

and guitar duo called the Tricards Twins, playing in a number of bars and pubs in Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

. They developed a repertoire for playing songs from the sixties and seventies, with the Beatles, Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

 and Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...

 figuring prominently among their influences.

In one of their shows, they met bassist Eric and drummer Fanch. Together, they formed Matmatah, named after Matmata

Matmâta

Matmata is a small Berber speaking town in southern Tunisia. Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground "troglodyte" structures. In 2004 it had a population of 2,116....

, the village in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 in which Stan had lived during his childhood. Soon, they achieved some success, opening for bands such as FFF. Their first single, titled "Les Moutons" (The Sheep), was released in 1996, and within a few months had sold 30,000 copies (eventually selling 800,000).

The Band's first studio album, titled La Ouache, elevated them from local fame to national revelation. The album sold 300,000 copies within six months.

The media frenzy for the band began after they embarked on a marathon of hundreds of concerts over the next two and a half years. During this time they were part of a number of rock festivals, during which fans discovered a new side to Matmatah through their energy on the stage and their covers of various Beatles songs.

It was around the same time that Matmatah were charged with inciting the use of illegal narcotic

Narcotic

The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...

s because of some of their songs' lyrics and were ordered to pay a fine. With their usual sense of humor, the band brought up the issue in the lyrics of their second album. This eagerly awaited album did not prove to be as much of a success. Titled Rebelote (Here We Go Again), it brought the band closer to its Celtic Rock origins, but was less popular. However, the artists maintain that through that album they turned away from the "schoolboy-ish" form of rock and towards the spirit which drives them today.

In 2001, the band released their live album, Lust for a Live, and a DVD humorously entitled Piste Off. After a short rest period during which the band changed drummer they resumed their touring, this time for a number of humanitarian causes.

Their third studio album, Archie Kramer, released in October 2004, has been very successful. Singles such as Casi El Silencio and Au Conditionnel have enjoyed extensive airtime in France. The twelve tracks veer between soft ballads and energetic rock numbers. Their soft folk song, Alzheimer expresses their opposition of American hegemony in the world.

At the end of October 2004, the band went on a comprehensive tour, including parts of Asia.

In 2007 was released their last album La Cerise (The Cherry) which is also the title of the first single.

Matmatah disbanded in August 2008 after a series of farewell gigs.

Current members

• Tristan Nihouarn (Stan) - vocals, rhythm guitar, flutes.
• Cédric Floc'h (Sammy) - lead guitar, vocals.
• Eric Digaire (Eric) - bass guitar, vocals, keyboards.
• Benoit Fournier (Scholl) - drums, percussion.

External links

• http://www.matmatah.com/ - the band's homepage
• http://www.rfimusique.com/siteen/biographie/biographie_6261.asp - a detailed biography