Exclusive: Aubrey Anderson-Emmons Is Excited for Her New 'Chapter' as a Musical Artist: 'I've Always Just Wanted to Be Myself'

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who most people know as Lily from Modern Family, is in a new era!

The actress is embarking on a new journey as a music artist, releasing her debut EP on August 8.

"I feel like this is a growing-up moment. I get to decide what I want to do with my career. When I was younger, I didn't know if I wanted to continue acting, but in high school, I really found a love for music, and I grew up around so much music. My mom is a classically trained singer, and she also minored in piano," the star, 18, exclusively tells Morning Honey.

The teenager, who is now pursuing a music career under the name Frances Anderson, describes her EP — titled Drown — as indie folk pop and is inspired by artists like Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley. "I love the single 'Telephones and Traffic.' I wrote it with somebody I went to high school with. I came up with the lyrics, and my friend wrote the guitar for it. That song is kind of about my early childhood. There's one song called 'Turn the Light On,' which is about my high school sweetheart, and it's precious to me," she says.

When the musical artist gets inspired, it's typically because of events or moments that happened in her real life. "I usually prefer to pull from personal experiences," she explains. "I'm starting to write again after getting ready for this EP release. I am not used to writing with other people. I've written with friends in high school, and 'Telephones and Traffic' is the one where somebody wrote with me on the EP, but the chords and lyrics I made myself. I'm starting a new adventure: writing with others for the first time. I'm excited about it, and I think a lot of fun, new music will come out of it."

"People ask me what my process is like, and it's so different for every single song. When I get a random phrase in my head, I'll be like, 'I must write that down,' whether I get it from a book or it just comes into my head. I like writing about my own life. I've always been an open book when it comes to my past or the traumas I've experienced," she continues.

Though she's glad to have had experience in showbiz from a young age, she's looking forward to people learning more about her. "I'm really grateful for the fact that I have a fan base already. I think even a lot of my fan base doesn't see me as a musician yet, and I'm completely fine with that. I'm glad to be posting what I want to post and doing what I'm doing. I'm happy to be recording music and doing what I love," she gushes.

Growing up, Anderson-Emmons had "no clue" she wanted to become a musician. "I only started writing in the past three years. Even when I first started writing, I was in a high school band, so we would play at shows. That was a completely different genre of music than I'm writing now," she says, noting she will now go by Francis. "When it comes to my name change, Francis Anderson is actually a legal part of my name — Francis is my middle name. I was named after a family friend of my parents, but when it comes to choosing to go by stage name, I thought Aubrey Anderson-Emmons was a bit long, and I didn't want the Emmons as part of my name; I was like, 'I want it shorter.' Also, people just know me as Lily, and nobody used to call me by my name. You can call me whatever you want, as long as you like my music!"

These days, the singer is living her best life. "I love posting things and giving people a look inside my life. I try to keep it real on social media. I've been entering a new chapter for the past couple of months. I moved into a new house in a new part of L.A., so that's new to me, music is new to me. New things are happening! I've always just wanted to be myself. I think some people are starting to get that, and I'm very happy about it."

Ultimately, Anderson-Emmons is "grateful" Modern Family thrust her into the spotlight. "The fact that I was part of something that made so many people smile and laugh, I'm forever grateful," she says, adding she wants to "connect" with more people through her music. "I want them to get a better understanding of who I am. Everybody wants to be understood, and I feel like this is kind of my way to express that. Music is also therapeutic in a sense where it's like I'm learning about myself as well, so we can all learn a little bit more about me together!"

Anderson-Emmons' EP Drown released on August 8 and is now streaming .