Momoa, bass, and long-time mates Mike Hayes (lead guitar, vocals) and Kenny Dale (drums) will be playing rock and roll and heavy metal classics — plus four new originals — at Yonder this Saturday, from 9.30 till 11.30pm, after initially struggling to find a venue.
The prolific film and TV actor (Aquaman, Dune, Fast X), who was born in Hawaii and raised by his mum in Iowa, in the States, says on discovering Queenstown when he was about 20, "it kind of blew my mind because everything I love to do is there".
"I grew up mountain biking, rock climbing, and snowboarding and motorbikes, all that kind of stuff, so it’s just like it’s a perfect playground for me."
He’s had two New Year’s Eves in Queenstown, and has a soft spot for nightspot The Bunker and its owner, Cam Mitchell.
"It’s like probably the first fancy place I ever went to.
"A lot of places I probably wasn’t let into, the way I looked when I was 20, all dreaded up, and they showed me a lot of fancy food when I didn’t know fancy food."
Momoa’s been shooting some movies in Auckland but would love to shoot here, too — "that’d be a dream come true, mate".
However, he’s also living the dream touring with his bandmates, whom he’s known about 20 years.
"Mike taught me how to play music, Kenny taught my kids to play drums, and myself, and now they’ve taught me all these songs."
Hayes calls Oof Tatata, which formed just over six months ago, "a power trio".
Dale describes the vibe: "Mike’s over there dancing in his little skinny self, and Jason’s over there beating the hell out of his bass, and I’m back there trying to keep the beat."
With Yonder’s capacity just 250, "it’s going to very up-close and personal", Dale says.
And he’d love the rest of their merch to sell out — "we’ve got the coolest shirts in the business, man".
So does he see more tours and even some recording?
"Absolutely, I don’t see this train running out of steam any time soon."
- Oof Tatata play Yonder, Saturday 9.30-11.30pm, tickets from ticketfairy.com
