Despite all his success, Terrance remains a humble and down to earth person. He always takes time out for his fans and talks to them rather than just shuffling them along after a picture and autograph. I was lucky enough to be able to chat with him and find out more about the many aspects of his very busy life. I’d like to thank Terrance for doing the interview and hope you (the readers) enjoy it!
Writer/Artist

1. You are both an artist and a writer. Do you prefer one over the other and why? Terrance tells me that he doesn’t see much of a difference in them. He believes all art is story telling and approaches it that way. “It’s about the story you’re telling, not how it’s being told.”

2. How long does it take you to complete an issue of “The Molting”? What is the process of creating an issue? Terrance shares that he is still sort of new to the comic book creating process and is still figuring out the time line, “If I work diligently an issue takes me about 2 months.” He explains that this also includes printing, formatting files and the like. As far as the process goes, it starts with a story. The next step is to take the story and divide it into 12 chapters in comic form. He begins with thumbnail sketches, then inks and tightens up lines. The inked drawings are colored by a colorist in Photoshop, and finally a letterist adds his portion and the issue is conformed to printer specs.

3. Which artist and writers are your biggest inspirations? I am pleased to hear Terrance has good taste as he tells me he was inspired by graphic novel big-dogs, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

4. What was the first thing you ever wrote/drew? Terrance says, “this may not be the first thing I drew, but I remember it being the first drawing that I received positive encouragement from, and that was Mickey Mouse. My Mom asked if I traced it and when I told her no she sad, “good job, son”. He makes mention of how Disneyland is referenced in The Molting, so things, in a way, have come full circle.

5. Have you ever considered putting REPO! in comic book form or even continuing the story of REPO! in a comic book (ala Joss Whedon with Buffy)? Terrance tells me that he gets this question a lot. “Of course, I’d love to see REPO! continue in a lot of different forms”, he says. He explains that at the moment he personally would not be interested in creating a REPO! comic for a few different reasons. First, He feels he has successfully told the biggest version of REPO! he can tell: the film. Now he wants to tell new stories. The second reason is that he doesn’t own REPO! anymore. Lastly, he thinks it would be nice to see another artist take up the reigns on the project. He tells me about an idea someone had of doing an illustrated version of REPO!’s original script. Doing this would give people a chance to see the original version of the story before it was made into a film.

6. What book should everyone read? 1984-George Orwell or the Dictionary.

Music/Performing

7. Can you play any instruments? If not, which one would you most like to learn? Terrance tells me that he can play guitar as well as piano somewhat. “At one time performing music was more important to me, but I rarely pick up any instruments these days.” If he had the choice, he would have liked to put more time into perfecting the piano.

9. Musically, who are you inspirations? Have people told you, that you sound like any particular singer(s)? The musicians who really wow Terrance or affected him emotionally were, Tom Waits and Mo-town (which is a whole plethora of singers). “Vocally, I’ve been compared to Danny Elfman, but I’d like to think I’m unique.”

10. What is your favorite song in REPO!? Terrance tells me that he likes the tracks the transitional numbers more than the big songs. The writer in him likes the technical chops on display. He cites songs such as, “Everyone’s a composer” and “Happiness in Not a Warm Scalpel”. There are unusual musical changeups and dynamic meters in these tracks that a popular song like “Zydrate Anatomy” doesn’t have. Songs such as Zydrate need to be “head-bobbable” so they can’t be too weird.

11. Tell us about Orpheus: A Season in Hell and Chain of Souls. Terrance explains that the aforementioned projects are things that existed deep, deep in his past. Orpheus is a rock opera and Chain of Souls is a movie he was an extra in. He tells me that he likes that people are taking an interest in things he has done, but those projects are not indicative of who he is as an artist today and if people go into them looking for GraveRobber, they will disappointed.

12. What CDs people should listen to? Terrance struggles to think of an answer, but comes up with Tom Waits-Alice and Marilyn Manson-Antichrist Superstar.

Miscellaneous

13. Does the admiration and attention from females ever get annoying or tiresome? Terrance tells me that the attention is new and he probably won’t ever get used to it. However, it doesn’t get tiring and he tells me it’s flattering. “The attention comes more from what people write on the internet than literally coming on to me personally”. He explains that it doesn’t happen as much as people assume it does, but when it does “it’s awesome and who doesn’t want to be loved?”

14. Is this where you saw your life going when you were younger? Did you envision one day you would have all this attention as an artist? He explains that just because he made REPO! and has cult success with the film does not mean he has everything. He is still trying to make ends meet, wants to find happiness and has not settled into a life of comfort. However, he did not see things this way and is happy with the way that things are going.

14. What would the biography of your life be titled? Terrance tells me that he hopes he has many years left before a bio is written of his life, but he hopes his epitaph would have the words artist and influential in it.

20. Rachel of Northampton wants to know, what is your favorite way to prepare potatoes? Terrance tells me that he hasn’t ever prepared potatoes, but his favorite kind is French fries. He also says he doesn’t really give it a lot of thought and neither should Rachel.