During the recording of Calexico"s Spoke in 1996, French filmmaker Marianne Dissard (director of Giant Sand documentary Drunken Bees) introduced Joey Burns and John Convertino to two French musicians, Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhom. In addition to the two duos, Tête features German musician Martin Wenk, who played in Calexico"s European touring ensemble, and Marianne Dissard on vocals.