Lawrence is a soul-pop group from New York City, helmed by siblings Clyde (age 23) and Gracie (19) whose last name is Lawrence (natch!). On their debut album Breakfast, which peaked at No. 6 on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart, the band — which is really a massive eight-piece group made up of the siblings and their best friends — showcases a sophistication that belie the members' youth.

It makes sense once you consider that Clyde is the youngest person to be admitted to the Songwriters' Guild of America (he was 6!) for his film composition on the 2000 Sandra Bullock movie Miss Congeniality, and Gracie is an actress who has performed on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, films such as The Sitter and TV shows such as The Good Wife. As Lawrence, these vets have performed at SXSW, Bonnaroo and Summerfest. They talk to Myspace about working musically as siblings; their creative family and what breakfast means to them.

Hometown and homebase: New York City

How did you know you wanted to form a duo as siblings?

Clyde: It wasn’t really a conscious decision — we have always been playing together since my earliest memories. There are videos of us playing music when I was four and Gracie was one.

Gracie: Like Clyde said, it was super organic, and it's worked out really well for us since we grew up listening to the same music, which has largely influenced our taste.

You obviously grew up in a musical household. What are your earliest memories in the craft of songwriting and singing? How has your taste evolved through the years?

Clyde: I have almost no memory of my early songwriting because I was so young. It has simply always been my favorite thing to do. Singing was more something I did casually for fun, or as a way to convey my songs to people, but I never planned on being a professional singer. It wasn’t really until high school, largely inspired by Gracie, that I started pushing myself to become a more confident singer. In terms of taste, I think mine is more similar to what it was when I was a little kid than most people. (In general everything about me is embarrassingly similar to my 4-year-old self — I also dress the same, eat the same foods etc.). But there are always new artists I’m hearing that open me up in new ways and pull me slightly in new directions.

Gracie: I've been a singer and a performer for as long as I can remember, but I started writing music when I was around 11 or 12 years old… that seems young, but when I compare myself to Clyde, I consider myself a new songwriter. My process for writing music has changed dramatically over the past few years, which definitely influenced the content I produce. I used to not really know how to play piano, so I relied heavily on making all-vocal demos or coming up with my songs in the shower… I definitely still do that a lot, but now I also often start a song by messing around at a piano and that's obviously made my songs more interesting. Like Clyde, I don't know that my taste in music has really changed much… I've just gotten better at writing the music that I've always wanted to write.

What was the one thing that most influenced Breakfast?

Clyde: Obviously there are tons of musical influences, but personally I’d credit a lot of the songs to my college experience. Most (not all, but most) of the songs were written while I was in college, and that’s also where I met most of the people that are now in the band with us (we’ve got a giant eight-piece band comprised of our best friends). Shoutout to the boys of 18-20 Yung O.

Gracie: Breakfast time for us growing up was all about family and home and playing and listening to good music. Breakfast is also our debut album — aka the first meal we're serving up. I think Breakfast really captured this moment in our lives and careers — Clyde was inspired by his time at college and I was inspired by the experiences I was having in high school. And then sonically, I think we wanted it to feel fresh and young production-wise, but also pay homage to the old-school pop songwriting structures of Motown songs or the Beatles that we idolize.

Describe the moment when you realized you wanted to make music for a living.

Clyde: I never really “realized” or “wanted” to be a musician. It’s always been a pretty core part of who I am, that this is what I want to do. There’s no real backup plan — if I’m not a successful musician then my plan-B is to be a struggling musician.

Gracie: I agree — there was no precise moment for me. I went straight from high school to making Breakfast to touring, and that just seemed like the most natural progression for me. If it were a matter of practicality or logic, no one would be involved in this industry, so I think it just comes down to the cliche of doing what makes you happy.

Does living in New York influence your work a lot?

Clyde: Sheer boredom caused by long subway rides without phone service has lead to some of my best work.

Gracie: During the fall of this past year, Clyde and I got a ton of work done as we walked across the Pulaski bridge every day en route to the studio to make Breakfast. We worked out some musical moments; wrote lyrics and came up with the album title.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Clyde: The list is incredibly long, so I’ll go ahead and throw out two wildly different names that are two of my favorite artists: Randy Newman, Chance The Rapper.

Gracie: There are so many people, but I'd add in that we collaborated on stage with Antwaun Stanley, who sings with Vulfpeck and doing more stuff with him would be pretty sick.

What do you do for fun?

Clyde: Watch baseball, play Settlers of Catan, and write more music.

Gracie: Eat.

Across music, TV and film, what's your favorite mode of creative expression?

Clyde: Well we do music, but our dad is a film/TV writer. A lot of the things he talks about in his work I apply to songwriting. No matter what you’re doing, good storytelling is what matters.

Gracie: I love acting, writing and music for essentially the same reasons — it's just a way of sharing emotions with an audience/listener, as sappy as that sounds.

How would you describe your music to someone who's never heard of you?

Gracie: Old-school soul-pop mixed with modern production.

Clyde: Breakfast.