Interview: Hayley Kiyoko – Lemonade Mouth

Tommy2: Hey what’s up, it’s Tommy2 and this morning we’ve got a sleuth, a pop star, and a villain all rolled into one. Its Hayley Kiyoko from Disney Channel’s upcoming original movie Lemonade Mouth and it premieres this Friday, April 15th. So Hayley what’s up?

Hayley Kiyoko: Hey Tommy how are you doing?

Tommy2: Doing really good. Now recently I was scrolling through your tweets and it said, “For those of you who are my new followers…. I like to joke a lot. You can’t take me too seriously.” So on that note I thought I’d start off our time with a little fun doing a bit of old school pop trivia. So what I was going to do is say a line of a song, and you get to finish it off by singing the next line. Sound good?

Hayley Kiyoko: Oh my gosh, I hope you know Tommy that I do not know lyrics to anything. So… so this is gonna be fun, okay.

Tommy2: Okay, now this goes back to the old school and I’ll try to keep it easy for you. Okay?

Hayley Kiyoko: Okay.

Tommy2: “Upside Down, Bouncing Off The Ceiling.”

Hayley Kiyoko: Inside out, stranger to this feeling.

Tommy2: See, you’re not too bad

Hayley Kiyoko: Oh yeah, I totally got that. Oh my God!

Tommy2: “Put A Smile On Your Face.”

Hayley Kiyoko: Make the world feel better.

Tommy2: I’ll bet you’re gonna love this next one. “Never ever forget, that I’ve got you, and you’ve got me, so…”

Hayley Kiyoko: Reach for the stars, climb every mountain higher

Tommy2: Let’s move on with one last one, before we move on with the interview and this one… we’ll see if you do this one. “Dunk after Dunk, Jam after Jam, Cheerleaders are cheering…”

Hayley Kiyoko: Ahhhh….

Tommy2: It’s “Aaron’s the man” from How I Beat Shaq.

Hayley Kiyoko: Oh my gosh, I don’t even know that.

Tommy2: Okay, so let’s move this thing forward and talk about this great opportunity you had to be part of the cast of Lemonade Mouth. Briefly, what’s the story all about?

Hayley Kiyoko: The story is about five teenagers who come from different walks of life and they kind of band together and make a difference in the school.

Tommy2: And describe the personality of your character Stella?

Hayley Kiyoko: Stella Yamada, she’s, she’s a firecracker. She’s very spontaneous and she definitely gets everyone in trouble by being so spontaneous and she’s kind of a rebel in the sense that she wants to make a difference and to be heard and she definitely shops at Hot Topic.

Tommy2: Other than getting other people into trouble, that sounds a little like you.

Hayley Kiyoko: Not, I mean it’s funny cause Stella and I are similar in the sense of we’re both leaders and you know we’re free spirited to a certain extent but like Stella is an extreme. Like I would never, ever do anything to get myself into trouble. I’m actually very careful about rules. I definitely follow rules. So she’s definitely a big extreme, so we’re definitely different.

Tommy2: And now on the musical side, what did you get to do as far as the soundtrack?

Hayley Kiyoko: Yeah, I sing a song called “Here We Go” and it’s in the Halloween Bash, which you’ll see. I also sing on “Determinate” and “More Than A Band” and I sing on a bunch of the songs. But yeah, you definitely have to check it out. And it’s cool because all of us, the girls, we all have distinct, different voices so you’ll be able to hear us definitely. And like Naomi is a wonderful singer and she sings on the song called “She’s So Gone” and that’s like a powerhouse song so you have to check out the whole soundtrack.

Tommy2: You bet! Now last year you posted some great photos from the set showing how much fun you guys had on the set just playing around. Outside of the fun and games, how much work really goes into one of these movies?

Hayley Kiyoko: It’s a lot of work. I mean you work hard and you play hard. You know that’s just kind of the motto, well at least for me. You know you work all day, but you know it’s something that we love to do so it’s never really work, it’s always just, it’s always just play cause this is what we love to do and we get to do it 24/7 and you know I’m really fortunate that I get to do that.

Tommy2: Looking at your background being a performer, did you play a role in helping out your cast – you know like being rock stars and stuff like that and performers?

Hayley Kiyoko: Yeah, I mean… you know I play guitar and I play drums so when the other cast mates were practicing like I would teach Naomi how to play bass on some of the songs you know and just kind of help her with that. But yeah we kind of all just jammed in the hotel rooms and helped each other and supported each other. Obviously I had the experience of performing on that massive stage so it was kind of cool to go from doing it for real and then doing it for you know, pretend.

Tommy2: M-hmm… and bringing a little authenticity to it.

Hayley Kiyoko: Yeah, absolutely!

Tommy2: In general we’ve grown familiar with your face on Wizards of Waverly Place as Stevie that started just over a year ago, but how long have you been acting and working towards where you’re at now.

Hayley Kiyoko: I started acting in 7th grade just doing like commercials, kind of for fun. You know it was never something I really wanted to pursue, pursue and I think in probably my junior year Scooby-Doo gave me my first acting break. You know I had done a bunch of national commercials, and you know it was all just kind of fun and, you know just for the good experiences and then I booked Scooby-Doo the summer before my junior year and that’s just kind of where it started. And I’m having a blast and I’m really enjoying it.

Tommy2: And in Scooby-Doo you were Velma so we’re gonna have to have you say Jinkies.

Hayley Kiyoko: Jinkies!

Tommy2: Okay, and you know there’s something that both of us have in common that I totally have to ask you about. When did your love for Dole Pineapple Whips at the Disney Theme Parks begin?

Hayley Kiyoko: Oh my STOP! I LOVE Dole Pineapple Whips. I fell in love with them, probably the first time I went to Disneyland where I could actually taste things and know what was going on. So probably when I was nine maybe and they are so amazing. I mean they’ve definitely like decreased them a little bit cause they don’t come with the free pineapple spears anymore. You have to like pay extra but it doesn’t matter I get everything every time I go there and I wait 20 minutes for that Ice Cream because it is the best thing Disneyland has to offer.

Tommy2: You got that right, now speaking of the Theme Parks, now that you’re working with Disney have you been getting any special privileges?

Hayley Kiyoko: I actually, I went to shoot Disney 365 and I think it should be airing right about now and I got to go to Disney World for the first time and go to like all the different parks and you know we got a tour guide an I got to go to all of the parks in one day and that was so much fun, it was just such a blast, Disney’s such a magical, magical, magical place.

Tommy2: Did that throw you for a loop that your Whip was in a different location?

Hayley Kiyoko: No, I mean we found it. I told my tour guy Monica, she was super cool and I was like listen – we need to find some Dole Whip Ice Cream right now. And she knew exactly where it was so I was a very happy, happy girl.

Tommy2: Alright, Hayley – it’s time for to wrap this up so before we go I want to remind everyone to watch Lemonade Mouth on Disney Channel this Friday, April 15th and definitely take the time to follow Hayley. I want everyone to follow Hayley on Twitter @HayleyKiyoko cause it’s a totally awesome Twitter. I follow it, it’s definitely gotta be my Top Tens to follow.

Hayley Kiyoko: Oh… thank you.

Tommy2: Hayley, as always you rock – thanks so much for setting aside time today to talk with us, I really appreciate it.

Hayley Kiyoko: Absolutely! Thank you Tommy.