Lessons in Composing The Marvel Series 'Agatha All Along'

Written by Michael Paraskevas

Two of the hardest questions I’m regularly asked are who’s my favorite musical artist and what’s my favorite genre of music? Faced with this impossible dilemma, I never know where to begin and find myself giving the same copout answer every time: I enjoy listening to everything.

As a composer working primarily in visual media, being a sonic sponge is essential to my creative process. Our ears are our most valuable piece of hardware. Our ability to listen informs everything else we do. Film scoring is inherently a synthesis of seemingly disparate ideas, a psychology of multiple perspectives, or simply put, a big-ass musical immersion blender. This acoustic openness has been a key part of my artistic journey, from being born into a musical family to my latest creative endeavor, collaborating with Christophe Beck to co-compose the spooky score to Marvel’s Agatha All Along.

Michael ParaskevasKaitlyn Ali

Sometimes I joke that English is my second language because I often find it easier to express myself through music, to communicate using some mystical combination of 12 notes when words can only articulate so much. Growing up in Texas, I developed a deep adoration for film and music from an early age—whether it was binging Godzilla movies with my sister, Motown sing-alongs in the car with my mom, absorbing Bach lessons from my dad, a brilliant music teacher, or chanting Eastern Orthodox hymns at church. To me, each encounter with a piece of art is an opportunity to reflect, to laugh, to cry, to explore the world around us and share these incredible discoveries with others.

By the time I survived middle school (and realized I’d never make it as a professional baseball player), I couldn’t imagine doing anything else besides creating music and movies with other ambitious storytellers. I’d procrastinate on my homework by analyzing A Tribe Called Quest’s samples, attempting to learn Tool’s intricate guitar lines, or making up random tunes on the piano. If I wasn’t in the theater getting blown away by the latest big-screen spectacle, I was at Blockbuster fully mesmerized by movies. Coen Brothers, rent. Martin Scorcese, rent. Oldboy, rent. AFI’s “100 Years…” series. RENT. Eventually I figured out I could combine artistic forces, and with the support of my amazing teachers at Greenhill School, re-scored scenes from the silent classics, Metropolis and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans for my senior capstone.

My educational journey next led me to The University of Tulsa and the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program. There I learned from some fantastic professors, encountered many incredible artists, and immersed myself even deeper into composition. I’m so thankful for having studied music beyond the Western experience, deepening my appreciation of jazz, diving into electronic music production, broadening my palette and being pushed to explore musical horizons unfamiliar to me. What started as a creative spark became an engulfing flame of curiosity, naturally leading me to Los Angeles.

Wandering through the Hollywood wilderness, I eventually connected with Christophe Beck and had the tremendous opportunity to work on cool projects as a member of his creative team, like American Made, Watson, and Frozen II. I had a blast recording with the best musicians from all over the world and gained valuable experience from Chris’ mentorship and generosity, applying more refined skills to my own indie work. I also participated in many Marvel projects with Chris, writing additional music for Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania, WandaVision, co-composing the score to Hawkeye, and now our recent co-score to Agatha All Along.

Michael ParaskevasAlan Michnoff

Revisiting the witchy world of Westview was such an exciting and challenging adventure. Even though we’re back in a familiar universe, the story of Agatha’s journey with her coven presents so many unfamiliar twists and turns. Early in the process with our amazing showrunner, Jac Schaeffer, it became clear we needed to create something beyond a conventional superhero score, meaning adieu French horns, trumpets, big action percussion, and other juicy elements typically associated with our bold cinematic heroes.

Kathryn Hahn’s captivating portrayal of Agatha Harkness, the most charismatic of anti-heroes, contains so many complexities that we had to discover a fitting sound. Listening to her performance, as well as that of our stellar cast, informed me and Chris how to determine a fresh approach to the score. Additionally, we were greatly inspired by the incredible set design, fabulous costumes, and ingenious practical effects, allowing us to reside in a story that’s both grounded and magical.

The series encompasses so many moods from terrifying and dark to hilarious and beautiful. However, we found the best musical approach was jumping off the deep end, straight into the strange and weird. The core of our sonic palette was an orchestra consisting of 46 strings, 6 trombones, and 1 tuba, all supplemented by soloists playing their instruments “wrong” and other processed textures, including my bass clarinet playing warped beyond recognition. With this foundation, we established a Dark Magic throughline from which we constantly pivot away to follow the Coven’s exploration of other worlds and the show’s many clever pop culture references.

The challenge of wandering through different musical styles was so exciting. I found equal inspiration from experimental concert composers like George Crumb, Caroline Shaw, and Arvo Pärt as I did with popular artists like Billie Eilish, The Doors, Explosions in the Sky, and Pop Smoke. The show is also anchored by catchy songs from Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Bobby Lopez, which we strived to seamlessly incorporate into the score. And now, I still regularly find myself belting these songs at home.

With so many distinct influences and ever changing colors, none of the show’s cohesion would be possible without Jac’s brilliant leadership and holistic vision. Through her guidance, Chris and I developed prominent themes and interwoven motifs to accompany our coven’s adventure down the Witches’ Road. Each encounter along the way allowed me to highlight different molecules of my musical DNA. From creatively mashing up genres to writing soaring melodies and constructing mysterious textures, I felt able to tap into so many different aspects of my own musical identity.

Michael Paraskevas and Composer Christophe BeckDisney

Composing the score to Agatha feels like a comprehensive step in my artistic voyage. I’m constantly trying to learn new music, listen to new artists, and enhance my creative palette. It’s a tremendous joy when a project challenges me to think outside the box and enables more opportunities for discovery. Just as magical is the chance to connect with audiences and share my own personal experiences through storytelling. Through this score, I hope people can resonate with these empowering characters, celebrate the complexities of womanhood, champion the beauty of diversity, and reveal humanity in our darkest places. If you haven’t already, go grab yourself a broomstick and enjoy the thrilling ride that is Agatha All Along, my new favorite genre. Wherever you are, a coven there shall be.