Former Disney artists Aly & AJ prove they are all grown up as they pose for a provocative Playboy shoot, revealing bitter experiences as childstars made them take a DECADE off from music

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Last week, former Disney stars Aly & AJ released their first music under their own names in ten years — and now the duo is explaining just what kept them away from recording as 'Aly & AJ' for so long.

Since the release of the single Take Me, 26-year-old AJ (full name Amanda Joy Michalka) explained why the pair broke away from Disney, admitting some of their experiences left a 'bad taste in our mouth'.

Now she and Aly, 28, are doing things a bit differently, including posing for Playboy in a shoot that — while covered-up for the nude magazine — is a far cry from their Disney days.

Grown up: Aly (right) and AJ Mi Michalka (left) posed for Playboy this month

Flashback: The singers rose to fame in the '00s while signed to Disney's record label (pictured in 2007)

Sisters Aly & AJ released their first album, Into the Rush, on the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records in 2005, when they were just 14 and 16. The album went gold, and they went on to release two more before, in 2010, deciding to leave the label altogether. 

'We just lost the love a little bit,' AJ told Playboy. 

'We had experienced so much as kids and I kind of feel like we learned a lot about the industry that put a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth, whether it was a couple of people we worked with or whether it was just trying to find the right inspiration or what have you.'

She also said that fame was a tricky thing to grapple with as a young teen, and they had some growing up to do.

'Aly and I were recognized on a day-to-day basis, especially if we were together,' she told Elle. 'You deal with constant scrutiny, and people who know your business too intimately who shouldn't. As a kid, it can be overwhelming and frightening.'

Public eye: AJ said that parts of their early stardom left a bad taste in their mouths, which is why they stepped away from music for a while

'You deal with constant scrutiny, and people who know your business too intimately who shouldn't. As a kid, it can be overwhelming and frightening,' she said

So the pair decided to step back. They left their label, choosing to work on their own projects, separate from each other. 

Aly took roles in Easy A, as well as the series Hellcats, Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television, and iZombie, which she still stars on. AJ, meanwhile, was in Secretariat, the TV movie Salem Falls, and Super 8, and now stars in The Goldbergs.

In 2013, they released new music — but this time, it was under the name 78Violet. Their album was put out without a record label, and they found out how difficult that can be. 

Then last year, Aly's husband Stephen Ringer encouraged the pair to start recording together again.

'We were a little bit gun shy about going back to Aly & AJ and I just feel like we got past that,' AJ told Playboy. 'I really look at this as a 10 year reunion to our music and just finding the passion again and the love for writing and for performing.'

When they released the single on August 18, they also shared a heartfelt message with fans.

New tunes: Last week, they released their first song, Take Me, under the name 'Aly & AJ' in a decade 

'Since we can remember, our first and truest love has been music,' they wrote. 'That feeling we get when performing, when writing, when working together is unexplainable. We lost that feeling for a good long time. 

'The idea of trying to prove ourselves again as adults has been overwhelming and at times paralyzing. We lost the passion to create. That passion came back.'

Their new single, Take Me, is already earning buzz thanks to its catchy tune and reliability. The song, which urges a guy to 'take me out' already, was written while AJ struggled with the online dating scene.

'I was a little frustrated going through the dating scene,' she told Elle. 'I started experimenting on a dating app that a friend told me to go on, and I realized quickly that any match I came across, it was like, "Cool, we'll continue to message on here but nothing will get set in stone."

'We were a little bit gun shy about going back to Aly & AJ,' they said, because it was hard to show people they'd grown up

'In the age of social media and dating apps, so many people are able to hide behind their Instagram page or their Raya page or Facebook. And it's like, "Let's set something up! I want to meet face-to-face." And Take Me was about, "Are you going to take me out? Do I have to be the first person to make the move?" 

'And in this era, women can be the first person to make the move, but it's not usually how Aly and I roll romantically. I was writing a song that was more of a demand. "You're going to do this, if it works, it works, but I'm not going to be the first one to step out."'

The single will be released on a four-song EP first, and will be part of a full album coming out next year. 

And while they've been promoting it, it's clear the girls are a different Aly & AJ than they were in the 2000s, when Aly was on Disney's Phil of the Future and the duo star together in the Disney Channel movie Cow Belles.

For one thing, they're posing for Playboy, though they're dressed in crop tops and bikinis, not nothing at all like some models. They've also opened up their minds to a different view of their Christian beliefs.

IRL: AJ said their new single is about wanting a guy to actually you out on a date instead of just messaging back and forth on an app

Happy: AJ said that despite the downsides of being famous as a kid, she wouldn't trade the childhood she had

'Within religion there's a lot of prejudice and I think AJ and I, thankfully, never ended up growing up around something like that, but we definitely saw friends that did,' Aly told Playboy.

'I think that's the hardest thing about religion, is that people use religion as a way to judge other people, but I think that that kind of defeats the whole purpose, unfortunately, of loving your neighbor as you would yourself.'

But though they've broken away a bit from their past, the sisters don't regret being thrust into the spotlight at a young age. 

'I wouldn't trade the childhood we had because, A. It was normal to me, even though, in hindsight, it’s not normal. It felt normal and I think we maintained a pretty normal healthy attitude towards what we did,' added AJ. 'And B. I just wouldn't trade it, the experience that we had and the growth we've had.'