Matmatah

Matmatah originated as the Tricard Twins, a guitar duo performing in pubs and cafes, before Tristan Nihouarn and Cedric Floc'h joined forces with bassist Eric Digaire and drummer Jean-François Paillard. The quartet took its name from the Tunisian city of Matmata, where Nihouarn had lived during childhood. Their debut album La Ouaceh moved more than 300,000 copies and was followed by several years of touring. A narcotics-related arrest brought the band brief notoriety, yet the episode did little to lift sales of the follow-up record, which moved only modest numbers. Much of 2004 was spent on an Asian tour, and Matmatah returned in 2007 with the album La Cerise.