Edinburgh's original open mic night

Jason Wringe

In his own words

Describe your first OOTB

Well to talk in truisms, I don’t remember much about being on stage due to a mix of alcohol consumption and pure unadulterated terror. It was a terrific night though and It was the first time I met Mr Roddy Renfrew, who was also popping his OOTB cherry that night. Yeah it was all very enjoyable thinking back about that wee winter night in the Waverly bar.

Which OOTB performers really rock your boat?

John Mowbray, Matt James, Lindsay Sugden, Rob st John, Tommy Mackay, James Whyte and many others, there’s something magical aboot that wee stage.

Who is the funniest person you ever met?

All my mates are very humorous, my pal Gavin Livingstone is a very funny individual yet I have also met Eddie Izzard whilst high on mushrooms!! And that was pretty side splitting I must say.

What do you think is your best song and why?

I’m not a fan of bigging myself up really, but I wrote a song about Scientology called The Friend of Mankind that I’m pretty proud of as it says exactly what I set out to say and it rhymes and stuff.

What's the best OOTB performance you've seen?

There have been many but one that pops out first is Whyte and Mackay at the waverly. Jim was on keyboard I remember, and he kept making this funny wee noise to emphasize thinking about something. It was so funny that Guinness flowed from my beak like an alcoholic boogie.

Your favourite song(s) of all time ?

‘Nowhere to run’ by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
‘Soldier Jane’ by Beck
‘Tangled up in Blue’ by Bob Dylan
‘Big River’ by Johnny Cash
‘I wanna be the boy to warm your mothers heart’ by The White Stripes
‘Otha fish’ by The Pharcyde
‘Sister saviour’ by The Raptur
e ‘Hoist that rag’ by Tom Waits
‘Chicken payback’ by The Bees
‘Whores hustle and the hustlers whore’ by PJ Harvey
Right that’s it cause this could go on for quite some time!!

The consumer question: album, book or film you've enjoyed recently?

Album - The Information by Beck. Bloody Superb!!
Book - The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Believers and non-believers should read this incredibly well written book.
Film - The Prestige by Christopher Nolan. The guy who did Momento. Very good considering how pish the trailer was.

How would your worst critic sum you up?

‘You’re as good as, or if not better than James Blunt’

at OOTB

(Nov 06)
Jason Wringe: ‘The Friend of Mankind’: A song about L Ron Hubbard – not a usual topic.  Jason picked out the key principles of Scientology about how complex things are but how they can be resolved by making financial donations. ‘Audit your Soul’: A newish song with some great chord sequences and an very interesting subject matter – a spiritual side developing here. ‘Hey There Sonny’: A favourite from Jasons’ growing catalogue.  This time played with a huge amount of emotion.  Had the whole audience involved. ‘The Monkey and the Clown’ (was this a fourth song?): Jason gave us here a poppy song that I’d love to hear with a full band and backing singers.  He forgot the words towards the end but he never gets put off by this and carried on impressively.

(Jan 06)
Finally Jason Wringe, turned up at the death to contribute one last piece to the project. Possibly entitled Blind Faith, at least raising an eyebrow to the concept of everything being created in six days. This would sound good with a full band, highlighting Jason's passionate, soulful bark.