French musician Yarol Poupaud has spent years moving between worlds — from underground clubs to sold-out stadiums, performing funk-rock anthems and live improvisations. His work has spanned landmark albums with his band FFF, solo projects, and years on stadium stages alongside rock-and-roll legendJohnny Hallyday,
This week, the French guitarist and composer brought his music to the city for the first time, presented by Alliance Française de Delhi, with two contrasting performances: a stripped-back trio set with bandmates Victor Méchanick on bass and Cyprien Loreau on drums, foregrounding his love for live, unfiltered music; and a collaborative performance with Rajasthani folk musician Rahis Bharti and his band Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan.
Having played in India for the first time two years ago — at the Shilpgram festival in Udaipur and at a few shows in Jaipur with Bharti and his band — Delhi had not been a stop for Poupaud, till now.
Bharti, a seventh-generation musician from Rajasthan, has been representing folk traditions for over 25 years with his band. For him, the collaboration creates a bridge between cultures — rock and folk. The two met four years ago and collaborated for the first time at the Confolens Folklore Festival, one of France’s oldest folk festivals.
“At the end of the show, we decided that we should do more music together,” says Bharti. The duo met again this summer at Poupaud’s studio, where they produced and composed new music set to be released this month. “It’s a mix of rock — guitar, drums, bass and the magical Rajasthani percussion and singing,” Poupaud adds. The Delhi performance was the first time Indian audiences heard this material live.
The guitar hero
Poupaud’s relationship with music began early. At eight, before he even owned a guitar, he would strum a tennis racket in front of the mirror. He taught himself the guitar at 12, fuelled by his love for the evergreen rockers of the ’50s and ’60s — Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. “I can’t read music,” he says unapologetically. “I just learned by ear.”
A multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, and drums, it is the guitar that remains most deeply physical and intuitive for him. “It connects with your body, your soul,” he says. “It’s sexy, in a way.”
In the late ’80s, Poupaud joined FFF (Fédération Française de Fonck), formed with musicians Marco Prince and Nicolas Baby — a band that went on to define French funk-rock in the 1990s. With members bringing African, Afro-Caribbean, rock, and funk influences, FFF was fusion before fusion became fashionable. In 1991, they released their first album, Blast Culture, and later in 1993, their album Free for Fever all of which became touchstones of the French funk-rock movement.
After unofficially splitting in 2001, the band reunited briefly in 2007 and again in 2013. In 2023, FFF reformed with Poupaud, Prince and drummer Krichou Monthieux, released their latest album U Scream. Looking back, Poupaud recalls the 1990s as a golden era for live music. “It was before mobile phones,” he says. “People really went to shows, enjoyed the moment, and bought records. You owned your CD or LP. It was a great time for music.”
Days with Hallyday
Beyond his band work, Poupaud also collaborated closely with French rock-and-roll legend Johnny Hallyday, who revolutionised rock n’ roll music in France. Having met Hallyday on the set of his 2006 film Jean-Philippe, Poupaud became his official guitarist and music director from 2011 until Hallyday’s passing in 2017.
What Poupaud remembers most from those years is the discipline Hallyday instilled in him. “Every show was like the first one and the last one,” he says. “He always thought about tomorrow. He never relied on the past.”
Despite the scale of those productions, Poupaud remains grounded. One week, he would play Stade de France for 80,000 people; the next, a club gig for 200. “That’s the reality of this life,” he says. “Loading the van, driving, playing in a small venue. You have to keep your feet on the ground.”
Love for live music
In an era of algorithm-friendly music, Poupaud admits he feels fortunate to have started when he did. “Music today is like a food buffet,” he says. “You have everything, and you get lost.”
For him, no technology can replace the vigour of live performance — the mistakes, broken strings, going out of tune, jarring microphones, and sheer unpredictability. “These are things that are part of a rock concert that AI cannot reproduce,” he says. “They can reproduce the good stuff. But the bad stuff — that’s the core of our job.”
Having worn many hats — guitarist, songwriter, producer, director — Poupaud remains, at heart, a performer. “I want to keep performing live,” he says. “Every night is different. Every audience is different. I never play the same show twice. If I had to keep only one thing, it would be to live.”
Yarol Poupaud x Rahis Bharti with DHOAD Gypsies of Rajasthan will perform on December 19, 6 pm, at Triveni Kala Sangam, Mandi House