Uncaged: The Perfectly Imperfect Making of Outside Dog’s Latest Album "Songs for Singing"

Sat at the wooden picnic table in my front yard, Outside Dog’s Jake Hesse and his girlfriend Kendall Tarman joined me in conversation to discuss the making of his most recent album Songs for Singing. 

From covering Weezer and Red Hot Chili Peppers classics in middle school garage bands to touring with his band Juniper Honey, music has permeated Hesse’s life since the beginning. Hence the inevitable birth of Outside Dog, Hesse’s solo project that has manifested itself through various forms over the years.

“I was always needing a place to put almost just like spillover music that I was writing. We [Juniper Honey] finished our last tour and have been taking a little bit of a break from playing, so I kind of just went full force on the Outside Dog stuff and finally booted up an actual Spotify to release stuff on. But I've always had those songs and that idea for a long time,” Hesse shared. 

While he’s the driving force behind this project, friends from near and far places have helped throughout the recording process and play with him at live shows. It’s that outside support and dedication that allowed Hesse’s music to move on stage. 

“When I first started it, the band was different every show. Now, I've been lucky enough to have a good group of guys that are consistently playing with me. At first it was totally a tricky thing to take it live because there was just not a building commitment from people to do my own stuff,” he claimed.

With a horde of helping hands on deck, Outside Dog’s live sound has become something intimate and irreplicable. It’s one thing while being written and takes shape as another on stage.

“It's cool because the songs I write end up being way different when we play them live. I'm writing guitar parts that when we play live, the guitarist does their own thing with. And I like that. I like how it's a totally different thing live,” Hesse expresses.

That earnest and handcrafted essence of Outside Dog is ever apparent in Songs for Singing, which came out last November. It’s a hug from an old friend, a punch to the gut, and a calling to dance all at once. Drawing inspiration from Wilco as well as Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett’s collaborative work, the album is an authentic indie rock ode to creating something with one’s heart and soul. 

Songs like “Just Getting Older,” “Mystery Man,” and “Pull it on Down the Line” offer nostalgic and fervent acoustics with sweet slide sounds, while “Parking Meter Maid,” “In the Frost,” and "Continental Blues” encase wailing electric solos and elements that beckon a mosh pit.

The album in its entirety is a beautiful mix of songs you can play driving with the windows down or flail your head around with your eyes shut. Songs for Singing feels true, honest, and intentional, each song working with another to create a dynamic ensemble. 

Kendall Tarman, Hesse’s partner, joined him on the third single Outside Dog released from the album, titled “I’m a Thief.” With no prior musical background, Tarman initially agreed to take part in the song if no one knew it was her. 

“I'll be singing around the house, not seriously. It took me a while to even sing with just him. He would play the guitar and my part would come up and I was just silent. I was like, ‘Wait, I'm not ready, I'm not ready, I'm not ready,” Tarman depicted. 

After some dedicated convincing from Hesse, she ended up also contributing backing vocals for other songs such as “Mystery Man” and “Pull it on Down the Line.” The experimental and homespun edge of “I’m a Thief” holds true throughout the rest of the album and how it was recorded. 

“I do everything at home. I did a lot of the album back in Orange County at my parents house, and then I did a lot of it, like the other half, up here in SLO. But it's just all like homemade recordings in my bedroom a lot of the time,” Hesse explains. 

“I think one time we forgot to record for ‘Mystery Man’ on one of the backup vocals and I was leaving for Madrid the next day. So he brought all his stuff to my house and he was like, ‘We have to do it. We have to do it one more time,” Tarman added.

In discussing the album’s construction, we fixated on a motif present throughout Songs for Singing and truly life itself: perfectionism is killing the artist. Through their everchanging live presence, DIY production, and authentic acoustic sound, Hesse takes pride in the perfectly imperfect world of Outside Dog. 

“The whole purpose of art and what makes everyone's art unique is that it's imperfect to them. So things that I would create and think like ‘Oh my God, that doesn't sound good’ or ‘I don't like this flaw,’ most people wouldn't even notice or would actually enjoy. So it's good to remind myself that imperfection is the point sometimes. That's what makes it,” Hesse affirms.

That raw and experimental flow of Outside Dog is what keeps people coming back for more. Looking to the future of Outside Dog, it looks like there’s lots on the horizon from things old and unheard to new and in the works. 

“I'm definitely working on stuff right now and I want to release music within the next few months hopefully. My goal right now is to make an album of everything that I’m sitting on, even if it ends up being a lot of songs, just so I can get to a part where I'm writing and recording something fresh from scratch. Which is a chase I feel everyone tries to do. But yeah, new music for sure.”

In a world full of inside dogs, it seems that the Outside Dog can’t be caged and is here to stay.

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Olivia Longenecker is a writer on our Editorial Team. She conducted the interview and wrote the article. Jovi Bourgeois is a member of our Art Team. They made the graphic. Kendall Tarman took the photos.