Matmatah is a French

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

, established in 1995 in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

History

The band was established in 1995 when Tristan Nihouarn, who at the time was a student pursuing study of Advanced Mathematics in Brest (western Brittany, France), met Cédric Floc'h who was studying electric engineering in the same city, where they both come from. Both were guitarists and together formed a ''

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

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

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

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

and

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

figuring prominently among their influences. In one of their shows, they met bassist Eric Digaire and drummer Jean-François Paillard. Together, they formed Matmatah, named after Matmata, the village in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in which Nihouarn had lived during his childhood. Their first single, including two songs, "Lambé An Dro" and "Les Moutons" ''(The Sheep)'', was released in 1997, and within a few months had sold 30,000 copies. The following studio album, ''

La Ouache ''La Ouache'' () is the first studio album by the French rock band Matmatah Matmatah is a French rock band, established in 1995 in Brest, Brittany. History The band was established in 1995 when Tristan Nihouarn, who at the time was a studen ...

'', sold 300,000 copies within six months (800,000 in total). In 2001, the band released their live album, ''Lust for a Live'', and a DVD 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, featured the singles ''Casi El Silencio'' and ''Au Conditionnel''. At the end of October 2004, the band went on a world tour, including parts of Asia. In 2007 their fourth studio album ''La Cerise (The Cherry)'' was released which is also the title of the first single. Matmatah disbanded in August 2008 after a series of farewell gigs. In September 2016, the group reformed and a tour started in February 2017. A fifth studio album was released on 3 March 2017: ''

Plates Coutures ''Plates Coutures'' ("Flat Sewings", defeated) is the fifth studio album by French rock band Matmatah. It was released in France on 3 March 2017. ''Marrée Haute'' ("High Tide") is the first extract of the eleven new songs. The album was released ...

'' (lit. flat seam, soundly defeated) presents 11 new songs concerned with society problems.

Line-up

Last members

*Tristan Nihouarn (Stan) - vocals, rhythm guitar, flutes. *Éric Digaire (Éric) - bass guitar, vocals, keyboards. *Benoît Fournier (Scholl) - drums, percussion. *Manu Baroux (2016) - lead guitar, vocals.

Former members

*Cédric Floc'h (Sammy) - lead guitar, vocals. *Jean-François Paillard (Fanch) - drums, percussion.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1998) *''

Rebelote ''Rebelote'' is the second studio album by the French rock band Matmatah Matmatah is a French rock band, established in 1995 in Brest, Brittany. History The band was established in 1995 when Tristan Nihouarn, who at the time was a student p ...

'' (2001) *''Archie Kramer'' (2004) *''La Cerise'' (2007) *''Antaology'' (2015) *''

'' (2017)

Live

*''Lust for a Live'' (2002) *''28, Capucines'' (2007) *''You're Here, Now What ?'' (2018)

EPs

*''Concert'' (1999) *''...and Time Goes Friendly'' (2005) *''Bande à Part'' (2008) *''Les demoiselles de Loctudy'' (2015) *''Nous y sommes'' (2017) *''Peshmerga'' (2017) *''Retour à la normale'' (2018)

References

External links

Official site

A detailed biography
{{Authority control French rock music groups Breton musical groups Musical groups from Brest