Hayley Kiyoko chats music video for 'GIRLS LIKE GIRLS,' performing, and 'Insidious 3'

Meet Hayley Kiyoko!

The 24-year-old indie pop singer-songwriter is no stranger to the spotlight. She's starred in "The Vampire Diaries," "Insidious 3," and Universal's upcoming feature "Jem and the Holograms," in addition to releasing an EP, which features the electro-pop title track "This Side of Paradise" and her new single "GIRLS LIKE GIRLS," which she's currently promoting.

AOL.com premiered the beautifully cinematic music video for her new single, "GIRLS LIKE GIRLS" last week (which you can also watch above!), and this week we got the chance to sit down with the rising star.

AOL.com sat down with the rising star to chat about her music video, musical influences and her roles on the big screen.

Your EP "This Side of Paradise" is so great and we're really excited to premiere this video. Can you tell us what inspired you to write "GIRLS LIKE GIRLS"?
Yeah, I wrote it with Owen Thomas and Lily-May Young. We were just talking about how there are so many songs where guys are stealing another guy's girl and there's not really a song where the girl does the same -- a girl empowerment type song. That was kind of the notion of how the song came about and the lyrics in the song are actually quite confident. For the video, I kind of wanted to show that inner-monologue for the character of what she's really thinking, not actually what she's doing. There's that nice juxtaposition of when you're watching the video, you're seeing her react differently than what she's actually feeling. You don't really notice the lyrics being that cocky and confident and it's nice the way it all blends. We wanted to keep it real and sometimes life is a little shocking and intense. We definitely wanted to keep that element.

You directed the music video -- was this your first directing endeavor?
Yes! I've always been very hands on with my projects as a musician and as an indie artist. You tend to end up producing and directing everything so it was kind of nice to step into that directorial seat. I also directed it with Austin S. Winchell, who's a good friend of mine. We put together the treatment and put together a great cast and crew. We did this video with a very limited budget. It was a huge passion project and I'm just thrilled with how it came out. It was fun!

Who are some of your musical influences?
Emily Haines from Metric is a huge music idol of mine. I think she's amazing. I've also loved Sia since day one. I always listen to female artists. I grew up listening to Blondie, Alanis Morissette, and The
Cranberries. I also like Arcade Fire and Frank Ocean.

"Insidious 3" was your first horror film -- what was it like filming it?
It was a great experience! It's still just as scary watching it after shooting it. It was fun to actually sit in the theater and listen to everyone's reactions and all the screaming. It's such an experience -- horror films -- when you're in a theater with other people. There's lots of energy.

What went into your preparation for this role?
I play Stefanie Scott's friend, Maggie, who is really more of the support system and the "normal" one, not going through the craziness. I just had to be there for her. I really loved working with the director, Leigh Whannell. It was a painless journey. Stefanie probably can't say the same (laughs).

Back to music. You're doing some touring -- is performing your favorite part about being a musician or do you gravitate more toward the songwriting, production side?
I love it all. I love creating the music videos because every time I write a song I really have a visual in my mind when I'm writing it. So I feel like once a video is made, the whole vision has been completed. But I love performing on the stage ... it's the best thing ever. I'm excited to get back on the road. I do percussion and sing and I have my musician Laurence who plays with me. I'm excited to get back out there!

You can follow Hayley Kiyoko on Instagram here.

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