Photos by Phil Sharp

Disclosure: "What's in Your Head" (via SoundCloud)

When I first came across London duo Disclosure's music two and a half years ago, through a track called "Street Light Chronicle", my ears perked up at the song's clean production and user-friendly synthesis of then-prevalent UK bass sounds: a distant rhythmic gait, pitch-shifted vocal samples, layers of winding synth lines. Its sturdy execution became even more impressive once I learned brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence were only 15 and 18 years old at the time. And though their hectic touring schedule has them crossing continents now, they still spend nights in their mom or dad's houses while back home in Surrey, a county just southwest of London.

"Street Light Chronicle" was the first song the Lawrences made together, and its creation was inspired by their shared interest in all things UK bass, with some very familiar reference points. "We only really started hearing dance music around when Burial's album [Untrue] and Joy Orbison's first single came out," Howard, now 18, told me last month. "That was the first time we were into the same music at the same time, which is probably why we started making it together."

Since then, their aesthetic has developed along with their listening habits, as Disclosure's sound moved from moody, Burial-like greys to the dusty euphoria that marked the heyday of 2-step and UK Garage, as evinced on last year's fine EP, The Face, as well as their stunning single "Latch". Currently, they're at work on their proper debut album for PMR, the white-hot label behind excellent releases from fellow UK electronic pop artists Javeon McCarthy, T. Williams, and Julio Bashmore (not to mention Jessie Ware's outstanding debut LP, Devotion). Disclosure's album is due this Spring, and a preview of some cuts shows the duo moving further into poppier stylistic territories, even incorporating Howard's own vocals into the mix for the first time.

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Pitchfork: Both of you don't have your own places yet-- when you move out, would you consider living together, or would being brothers make that difficult?

Guy Lawrence: We haven't even had time to think about moving out, though we do share a studio together. It isn't a home, but it's in a very derelict flat that doesn't have anything in it.

Howard Lawrence: We like having a home to go back to-- it makes you more focused when you get to the studio.

GL: If we had a studio at home, we'd just mess around too much.

Disclosure: "Boiling" [ft. Sinead Harnett] (via SoundCloud)

Pitchfork: What's the weirdest item in your studio at the moment?

HL: There's a massive blonde afro wig there. When someone comes in, they end up putting it on. It's funny once-- then the next person does it, and it's like, "Yeah, OK." Our uncle used to record in the studio before we did. I'm assuming it's his or one of his friends'.

GL: There's a whole box of dressing-up stuff in there. It's very strange.

Disclosure: "Tenderly" (via SoundCloud)

Pitchfork: What's your family's musical history?

HL: Almost everyone in our family has done music professionally at some point in their lives. My mum used to do radio jingles, my dad was in a band, and both my grandparents were musicians in orchestras and things. Our uncle is in a band. At one point, our dad was in talks with some labels, but nothing ever really happened.

GL: Both of our parents managed to make a career out of music for many years, and they had a great time. They got to tour around Canada, and our mom did some cruise-ship shows back and forth to Australia for a bit.

Pitchfork: Did you always get along growing up?

GL: We've never hated each other, but we didn't hang out much when we were teenagers. We were three years apart, which makes a big difference when you're at school. We didn't have many similar interests. It wasn't until three years ago that we started to like similar things. The only disagreements we get into now result in constructive arguments. If Howard was like me, we'd probably argue loads, but he's pretty chill. He lets a lot of things slide.

Jessie Ware: "Running (Disclosure Remix)" (via SoundCloud)

Pitchfork: When did the two of you decide to take an interest in making music, whether separately or together?

GL: We started playing instruments when we were very young-- there were instruments around the house all the time. When I got older, I was going out listening to various dubstep DJs, but until Howard started listening to that stuff, I never wanted to make it.

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Pitchfork: How's the nightlife scene in Surrey?

HL: There isn't one.

GL: There are a few pubs, but nothing really happens here. I first started going out DJ-ing in Brighton, actually, which is about a 45-minute drive away. I don't think Howard's actually been out to DJ yet, other than when he's playing our shows, because he's only 18.

Disclosure: Boiler Room DJ Set (via SoundCloud)

Pitchfork: How did you learn about different styles of music?

HL: Well, there aren't many record shops where we live.

GL: I collect a lot of old records and I do a lot of hunting on discogs now. Whenever we're abroad, I always try to go to a record shop and come away with something. We both listen to the same things a lot of the time, but I try and make an effort to listen to new stuff. But sometimes, we just fall into the pattern of listening to the same album every day for a month, like the new Kendrick Lamar album.

Pitchfork: As children of the internet, do you remember what it was like before the internet existed the way it does today?

GL: Kind of. I remember going to the library with my mom to rent CDs because we couldn't download them and we didn't have too much money to buy them. From then on, we had a dial-up connection, so we started to buy CDs online.

HL: The first CD I ever bought was the Beatles' first album.

GL: Mine was R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)"-- hot and fresh out the kitchen. [laughs]