When Kevin Kaproff thought of the name Practicing Sincerity, he didn’t even have any songs yet. But he liked how it sounded, and felt like it was going to fit his next musical project.
He’d been writing music since he was 13, but felt that it was lacking something.
“Everything was very deeply hidden in these obscure metaphors that were almost indiscernible,” Kaproff explains of his older music.
After graduating UCSC, he moved to New York, thinking he’d dive into the music scene there. Instead, he came back to Santa Cruz and started Practicing Sincerity as a solo project. Once here, the songs flowed out.
“I came out of it feeling like I needed to be better at actually expressing my emotions plainly and letting these vulnerable things about myself be known and not hold them inside,” Kaproff says. “I wanted to write songs that weren’t necessarily about anything huge or groundbreaking, but felt important because they were sincere.”
In 2016, he recorded the solo EP I Never Thought I’d Miss Palm Trees So Much under the Practicing Sincerity moniker. Its downtempo indie-pop jams featured him on the guitar and drum machine.
Last year, he recorded I Am Coming Home, backed by a band. The songs have a little more energy, but still retain an eclectic early ’80s post-punk songwriting style. These days, Practicing Sincerity is still a band, but has an entirely new lineup around Kaproff.
“The current lineup I have now definitely feels very solid and that definitely helps feeling like I can move forward where I’m not constantly having to worry about replacing people,” Kaproff says.
lINFO: 9 p.m. Friday, July 6. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
