Matmatah

File:Matmatah Plougastel 02-2017 - 14.jpg

Matmatah in 2017

Matmatah is a French rock band, established in 1995 in Brest, Brittany, originally composed of Tristan Nihouarn, Eric Digaire, Jean-François Paillard and Cedric Floc'h.

History

File:Saarang.2005.orangestreet.jpg

Matmatah in Saarang in 2005

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 and guitar duo called the Tricards Twins, playing in a number of bars and pubs in Brittany. They developed a repertoire for playing songs from the sixties and seventies, with the Beatles, Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel 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 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, 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 (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 (Manu) - lead guitar, vocals.

Former members

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

Timeline

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 id:chant       value:red        legend:Vocals,_guitar,_flute
 id:guitare     value:green      legend:Guitar,_vocals
 id:basse       value:blue       legend:Bass,_piano,_vocals
 id:batterie    value:orange     legend:Drums
 id:piano    value:purple     legend:Keyboard,_vocals,_bells

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 at:01/01/1998 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/2001 color:black layer:back
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 at:01/01/2004 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/2006 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/2007 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/2008 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/2015 color:tan2 layer:back
 at:01/01/2017 color:black layer:back
 at:03/02/2023 color:black layer:back

BarData =

 bar:Stan   text:"Stan"
 bar:Eric    text:"Éric"
 bar:Sammy     text:"Sammy"
 bar:Manu  text:"Manu"
 bar:Léo  text:"Léo"
 bar:Fanch     text:"Fañch"
 bar:School  text:"Scholl"
 bar:Julien  text:"Julien"

PlotData=

 width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
 bar:Stan from:start till:30/08/2008 color:chant
 bar:Stan from:01/09/2016 till:end color:chant
 bar:Sammy from:start till:30/08/2008 color:guitare
 bar:Eric from:start till:30/08/2008 color:basse
 bar:Eric from:01/09/2016 till:end color:basse
 bar:Fanch from:start till:01/11/2002 color:batterie
 bar:School from:01/05/2003 till:30/08/2008 color:batterie
 bar:School from:01/09/2016 till:end color:batterie
 bar:Manu  from:01/09/2016 till:08/12/2021 color:guitare
 bar:Léo  from:01/02/2022 till:end color:guitare
bar:Julien from:01/09/2016 till:end color:piano

</timeline>

Discography

Studio albums

• La Ouache (1998)
• Rebelote (2001)
• Archie Kramer (2004)
• La Cerise (2007)
• Antaology (2015)
• Plates Coutures (2017)
• Miscellanées Bissextiles (2023)

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)

External links

• Official site
• A detailed biography