Originally a pub and cafe guitar duo called the Tricard Twins, Matmatah came together when the original duo (Tristan Nihouarn and Cedric Floc'h) met up with bassist Eric Digaire and drummer Jean-François Paillard and took on the name Matmatah, after the Tunisian city of Matmata, where Nihouarn had spent time as a child. Their first album, La Ouache, sold more than 300,000 copies, and they spent the next couple of years touring. They were arrested on a narcotics charge, and their second album sold modestly. In 2007 Matmatah released the album La Cerise. ~ Chris True