Hayley Kiyoko

“For me, every music video is a hurdle. Every time I do a music video, I'm constantly fighting to get my point across. As a gay woman, that's also a big hurdle.”

“I've been parading around, leading people, being loud, since forever.”

“In the dating game, the world is difficult because people don't communicate, or they communicate, but then their actions speak louder than words.”

“My journey has really been trying to normalize girls loving girls.”

“I know who I am and what I want to say and what I'm supposed to sound like.”

“Everyone uses art for different reasons: We use it as entertainment. We use it as an escape. We use it as comfort. Everyone uses it for different reasons.”

“My mom choreographed the top Olympians; she's really the queen of ice in her world, so I kind of get my directorial bug from her because she's really good at telling people what to do!”

“It's tough as an artist to have such a specific vision for your video in mind when you write a song. Reaching out to directors is like going on blind dates and trying to find someone who sees the exact vision behind your music, which can be really difficult.”

“I really never imagined that I could ever even direct anything, so 'Girls Like Girls' was co-directed.”

“My motto is to help people love themselves sooner. I can't teach them how to do that. They have to figure that out on their own - that's their journey.”

“My friends call my style 'old man chic.' I wear loafers and stylish sweatpants. I love to stay comfortable, so I definitely funk it up, but I'm always comfortable. I wear lots of hats and feathers, and I kind of have a little obsession with Native American jewelry.”

“We all want to be loved. We all want to feel accepted. We all want to feel content. And life is hard.”

“I've always wanted my lyrics to say something meaningful and, you know, you always want to tell a message with your art. So yes, as I continue to write music, I will write about things that are real and things that I feel aren't written about a lot.”

“When I'm on set, I'm on set, and I focus and get the work done. Then when I'm done, I kind of have this button that I switch. I'm constantly switching this button and putting on different masks, and that kind of keeps me organized.”

“I just love storytelling. I write music to tell stories. So when I'm done writing a song, I take it and go, 'Okay. How can I interpret these lyrics differently?' I love taking lyrics that were so close to me at a certain point in my life and then revamping them. I always want to take things to the next level.”

“On a very small scale, I kind of understand why the directors that I work with do certain things. I don't consider myself an incredible director. I'm not ready to do movies by any means. But, I feel like I can be a better actress now that I've been on the other side and kind of understand the process and more of the technical aspects of it.”

“I think it's just important for people to lead by example.”

“The music industry is such a different world from the acting world. Everything is really last minute, but I love the challenge, and I love owning my material and being able to put out what I want.”

“I did not want to be the gay artist, and I talked to my manager all the time, like, I don't want to lead with that. I didn't want people to look at me like that's all I am.”

“When I approach my music and my music videos, obviously all of the subjects and stories that I tell come from an honest, truthful place and the experiences that I've had.”