Hollywood heavyweight Jason Momoa isn’t just a star on screen—he’s also rocking out in a heavy metal cover band on the side.
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It’s probably no shocker to fans that the Aquaman star can shred on a bass. The 46-year-old has admitted in the past that he sneaks his music idols into his characters.
“I’d say Aquaman was probably mostly built out of Tool and [legendary Metallica album] Kill ‘Em All,” the actor told Metal Hammer back in 2018. “There’s a lot of Sabbath in there too.”
However, the Game of Thrones fan-favorite recently took it all to 11.
Last year, Momoa formed the band ÖOF TATATÁ (“Oof, Almost” in Māori). Their setlist includes songs by Metallica, Tool, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks, The Stooges, and Jimi Hendrix, per Louder.
The trio is completed by Momoa’s longtime friends, Mike Hayes (vocals and guitar) and Kenny Dale (drums). Their first show was in New Zealand in April 2024 at a wrap party for the Minecraft movie. The band was joined onstage by Jack Black for a cover of Metallica’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls.”
Since then, they have had short tours across the globe, including stops in Nashville and Austin.
Jason Momoa Admits to Getting Stage Fright While Moonlighting as a Rockstar
While Momoa may look like he’s brimming with confidence as he plucks the bass and joins in on vocals, he’s admitted that even he gets a bit of stage fright alongside his band.
“It gives me an opportunity to have two hours to really be scared,” Momoa admitted to PEOPLE last November. “I’ve never done theater, I’ve never been on stage — so it’s another aspect that I’ve never gotten into.”
“It is kind of nice being scared and to just entertain people that way,” he added. “It’s been fun to experience that.”
“It could be a crowd of 400, it could be a crowd of 1,000, but they’re right there. It’s so exposed,” Momoa told the outlet. “And it’s not something that if I mess up, it’s just like, ‘Oh.’ You want to be perfect. But I think people are having a good time, so I’m just trying to go out there and spread a little love.”
“These are my best friends,” Momoa told PEOPLE about his bandmates Hayes and Dale. “They’ve been playing for the last 20 years, and they actually taught me how to play guitar and how to play drums.”
“They got kids, and they were just giving up on music, and I was like, ‘Guys, let’s go. Let’s put something together,’ ” he recalled.
Meanwhile, despite the stage fright, the actor said playing live music is an oasis for him.
“Being with a live audience, it’s not my background,” Momoa explained. “It’s rejuvenating. You get that energy back from fans, so it’s cool because, when you’re acting, you shoot something, it’s good right then, and you don’t see it for two years.”
“This has that instant gratification of being there with everybody, and so it is a new experience for me,” he added.