Toby Peneha is a big noise playing air guitar

By GRAHAM REID

When Toby "The Tobanator" Peneha came back from Finland, he put a band together. He had a couple of his own songs - Calm Down, Just Chill and Suicidal Antics ("All what I've been through") - he wanted people to hear.

"But the guitarist blew an ear drum, so that was the end of that."

The punchline is if The Tobanator had been playing guitar, that wouldn't have happened - because he is last year's national air guitar champion and he'd been in Finland for the world champs in which he came second.

When it comes to making a big noise on the world stage, The Tobanator is one of the loudest, in a silent way you understand.

After he won the nationals last year the boys in the Napier freezing works, where he is a sawman, were delighted. They'd been kind of "whatever" when he told them he was entering, but when he came home with the title it was all on.

"They were over the moon and so we had this big party and I had to get up and jam out for them, mate."

He loved Finland - "easygoing people, party animals" - and says there wasn't too much of a competitive feel.

"I just put it out there and got first with the audience and second with the judges. The guy who came first was no good and even admitted it. He said, 'How did they pick me?' But that's all right."

The Tobanator doesn't practise and says playing air guitar just comes naturally. He plays a bit of guitar anyway ("I can jam out a few Metallica songs but I'm more interested in bass") but says he just goes into the competitions free-spirited.

"I just get in there and do it. It's no good just practising one song because the judges put on a compulsory song and you have no idea what it's going to be. The regional one here was My Sharona, so I rocked it out like it was hard-out heavy metal. In Finland it was the Strokes. I'd never heard it before. Never heard of the Strokes actually."

Tonight The Tobanator defends his title against regional finalists from Auckland (Vile), South Auckland (Jumping Jazz Flash), Hamilton (Bradley Boy Holmes), New Plymouth (Busta), Invercargill (Furious Fingers Smith) and Christchurch (McInroe). The Tobanator is the only one back from last year's competition, but he isn't being cocky or taking it too seriously.

"If I went in a serious competitor I don't think I'd be myself. When I jump up there I'm myself and just do it. If I lose I'll be happy as, but if I went in with a competitive spirit and lost I'd really bum out, eh?"

* New Zealand Air Guitar Championship, final, Poenamo Hotel, Takapuna, tonight.