Interview – ‘Agatha All Along’ Co-Composer Michael Paraskevas on Crafting the Show’s Non-SuperHero Sound

There are many ingredients that have contributed to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one of the most underrated ones is the music. The music of the MCU has left us with countless spine-tingling moments that allow us to relive them every time we hear those notes. For Agatha All Along, the music, much like the series itself, is unlike the rest of the MCU, and thus required a unique sound. Co-composer Michael Paraskevas has worked on a variety of Marvel shows, including Wandavision and Hawkeye. Along with co-composer Christophe Beck, Paraskevas was tasked with creating the sound that makes Agatha so memorable.

I spoke with Paraskevas the day before the season finale of Agatha All Along premiered. His love of music of all kinds and the disparate sounds of the MCU were apparent. He shared about their creative process, working with showrunner Jac Schaeffer and all that went into creating that sound that many of us hear in our heads all day long.

All episodes of Agatha All Along are streaming on Disney+ now. This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

POC Culture: I’m excited to speak with you. I have to admit, I always a little anxious when I speak with film composers because I don’t have a musical ear. That’s not my background. But in preparing for our conversation, I read a lot of your interviews and you had a really great piece that you wrote at No Film School and I’ve learned a lot just from hearing you speak about your music.

Michael Paraskevas: Thank you for reading.

PC: Yeah definitely. I know we’re here to talk about Agatha All Along, but I wanted to start a little bit with your background. I know you come from a musical family and you really love film scores. Do you remember, what’s the first film or TV score that really moved you and sticks with you?

MP: Yeah, good question. I think for me, I grew up on the Disney movies and Star Wars, and I feel like those are two are definitely very, a 90s kid growing up and that renaissance was really special. And then, as you mentioned, a musical family and my dad’s a music teacher, and so I feel like I was just always surrounded in the home with that. And then when I got to high school, that’s when I really started taking it more seriously and a formative score for that was actually The Fountain by Clint Mansell. I think that was one that really resonated with me and seeing the power that music could have in storytelling.

PC: I love that. I’m definitely gonna check that out. One of the comments you made in the No Film School piece that really resonated with me was, you said how happy you were that you studied music beyond just the western experience. Would you talk about some of the other non-western experience musical elements that you studied that really inspires your music today?

MP: Yeah, I think for me, one of the first things when I went to school was we had an ethnomusicologist come and talk to our our class and basically challenged all our expectations of what music is and represents, and I think you often hear that people say music is a universal language, and in some ways it is, but I think in some ways too there needs to be an awareness and understanding that people interact with things in different ways. And so I think being able to listen to music that’s not representative of our culture and being open to hearing other things and drawing influences, and I think as a composer as an artist, I think that’s a really important thing to do.

And so we’re drawing some inspiration from, in the show, like with Billy’s character, he’s the modern day witch and encompasses all these different facets and listening to like pop production that’s not just western, but also like Black Pink and like some of the other K-pop artists, and finding different ways in each project to sprinkle in these different influences.

PC: It’s great because that’s your background, your style and education, but it’s also the right time for something like that. K-pop couldn’t be hotter. I think we’re in an era where there’s a lot more universal appreciation for music and your talents lend perfectly to that. You talked about how film scoring is a combination of disparate ideas; a musical immersion blender as you called it.

How did you approach Agatha All Along with that style of like blending different genres? What was your approach when you first started working on this project with co-composer Christophe Beck?

MP: Our approach is establishing this musical, magical foundation, but then, as you know, the characters go into these different worlds and exploring these different eras that are inspired by different movies and TV shows throughout. And so it was really fun in that sandbox, going from the the true crime parody in episode 1, to the psychedelic guitars in episode 4, to this 80s like John Carpenter synth and like Amblin era horror stuff, and I think just really exploring and leaning into all these. For me as a composer, that’s that’s one of my favorite parts of this work, getting to learn. For each one we’re kind of building the sound palette from scratch and working with different instruments and so it takes a lot of work and focus to the sound design and create these different palettes and then finding a way to keep them all cohesive and tied together.

PC: What’s that early creative process like with you and Christophe? You talked about the true crime and there are obviously references to Bewitched and all these other pop culture references. As you’re trying to figure out which ones you want to actually draw from, are you like just sitting in a studio listening to all kinds of different scores? Could you peel back the curtain of that early creative brainstorming process?

MP: I think for me one of my favorite parts of like the early process is, I’ll just make a giant playlist of music that, it could be just a certain instrument, or a certain sound, or maybe it’s like an emotion that I feel listening to that particular piece of music. And for a show like this that goes into so many references, [the list] is kind of my guideline when I like feel stuck or feel sort of whiplash jumping from episode to episode, because we’re working on them at different times, so to help keep my head straight. Being able to go back and I’ll like refresh and like listen to certain things to kind of set the mood.

And I think that’s something that would be explored early on as we’re writing the themes for the different characters, as well in our early conversations with [showrunner] Jac [Schaeffer], and sort of understanding the arc of each character’s journey and kind of where they go by the end of the show, and learning how to latch on to that emotionally and creating very distinct sound worlds. For Agatha, her sound world is much different than Rio’s, much different than Billy’s, much different than the coven as a whole, and I think really establishing what those sounds are.

PC: Let’s delve into that. You’ve talked about how superhero scores generally are like French horn, trumpets, the the big action stuff. How did you want the specific sound for Agatha to be?

MP: That’s a good question because actually, some of our first demos we played were in that world of the the big action traditional superhero sound. But immediately, we could tell once we put it with picture, it just didn’t fit at all. And that Agatha the character as well as the show at large required a different approach. I think we really latched onto, this coven, they’re all social outcasts. They all have different things that is unconventional or feel marginalized, and they also have different layers to their characters and like on the verge of darkness. So it’s kind of this group of antiheroes. We don’t want to represent them as villains, but we also can’t lean into the full heroes – the traditional sound that we’re used to.

So I think one of the main ways we established that is with being very intentional about the instruments that we uses. So our main orchestra as you mentioned, we didn’t use those those instruments like French horns and trumpets, but we had like 46 strings and six trombones and a tuba. And so it’s something that you know instruments that you’re familiar with, but then we supplement it with different combinations that might not sound as familiar, and so there’s this sort of dichotomy that you feel as a listener.

PC: I love that. I think what’s interesting, you talked about the antihero element, because obviously they’re not villains, we’re cheering for them. We’re cheering for Agatha. Everybody Kathryn Hahn. So there’s this element of it where it’s not just dark, it’s not just evil, but it’s fun and humorous and I think mischievous. How did you add that level of mischievousness or fun into the score?

MP: I think it’s really following her performance, and the other actors as well. They’re just so incredible with how they portray these characters, and it really informs you as the composer to just latch on to that and how quickly she turns from this mischievous, sort of sinister but playful, and the way she kind of bullies some of the other characters, but then they’ll turn around and there are these very intimate moments that she has with different characters or this self reflection. And I think Jac also mentioned that you learn a lot about Agatha just watching her, even if she’s not speaking. Just what she’s doing on screen, her mannerisms, and I think for me and Chris, it was really fun really grasping that and playing with that.

PC: Kathryn Hahn is such an emotive performer and I just love watching her. No matter what, the camera loves her.

With Jac, you’ve mentioned her contributions to that creative process a couple of times. What was it like working with her and going back and forth in terms of her role in developing the sound for the show?

MP: It was really great. Jac and her executive producer Mary Livanos were amazing because they right away had just a very clear vision of what the show was and I think really encouraged us to step beyond the traditional sound like we talked about, and I think really pushing to explore that and to go outside of what maybe you normally do. And I think with her too, what she did really well was being this – we were basically like a coven ourselves, and like this collaboration amongst the other artists and departments. Everyone felt very unified and together with the show, and as we’re working on it, we can tell just something very special and unique.

And I think, there’s diversity on screen, but also behind the camera as well, and giving underrepresented voices a chance to create something together. I think that all comes from their leadership and celebrating that diversity within it.

PC: You’re talking my language! I’d love to hear a little more about the efforts made to really make sure these underrepresented voices were heard and seen.

MP: I think especially for something like this, I think this is a very honest, sincere portrayal with everyone involved, and it’s such a core part of the show. And it’s celebrating womanhood, it’s celebrating sisterhood, it’s celebrating queer representation in ways that I think we could all do a better effort of doing, and I think it’s something that, again as we’re working on it, I think it’s something that we all kind of rally around and have the reverence and recognize the importance of that. And I think now that it’s out, it’s really cool seeing how much it’s resonating with different communities, and that I think it feels very honest and sincere and I think that’s something that’s really important.

PC: The authenticity I think is so important for all groups and we share in that and celebrate that. I think that’s awesome to hear. You talked about how it’s out there now. It’s been out there for a few weeks and people are overwhelmingly loving it. I think the sound is a huge part of that because it sets that vibe, that important mood. What has been some of the memorable remarks or feedback that you’ve enjoyed?

MP: I think the fun part is watching the fan theories and seeing everyone pick everything apart, because it’s crazy how much people can pick up on and I think as we’re understanding who these different characters are, and now going back for example like with Billy, his relationship to Wanda, and musically we kind of sprinkle the first 3 notes of her theme throughout the show, and seeing people actually recognize that and like tying the pieces together, and I think it’s exciting to see.

PC: Oh that’s good! Speaking of fan theories have you prepared a score for Mephisto yet?

MP: Uh…I can’t say anything [Laughing].

PC: Perfect answer [Laughing]. We joke about how the Marvel snipers are everywhere.

MP: Yeah they’re listening [Laughing].

PC: Okay going back to the sprinkling of Wanda’s theme, we’re talking now on the eve of the show’s season finale, so could you talk a little bit about any Easter eggs that we’ve heard so far or that you’ve sprinkled in that maybe hasn’t gone as appreciated that you’d like to highlight?

MP: I’d say one that’s in there that I think some people have highlighted, but I think it’s a little more subtle, is in the very first episode, Agatha, she’s in this true crime world and she doesn’t understand her identity yet. And then she’s in the morgue ripping off the clothes and backtracking the different eras. And in that scene musically we’re sprinkling the first couple notes of the baseline to the song “Agatha All Along,” and it’s sort of a subtle representation of it. And then when she finally is in full black and white and full splendor and remembers who she is, we play the baseline to that. So it’s a fun moment to call back to Wandavision and tie those moments together.

PC: I’m definitely going to go back and watch that scene again. I think those are the moments that make you feel, you may not even realize it, but like you feel it.

MP: Yeah, you know it on a subconscious level but yeah you might not be fully aware.

PC: Speaking of Wandavision, you worked on Wandavision and it was a huge success and it had a very unique sound and perspective. Was there any kind of anxiety or challenge coming into this? It’s a follow up, but it’s obviously very different. In order to make it distinct and have its own sound, was there any concern about that?

MP: Any time you revisit a world that you worked in previously, I think it’s always something that to me is very exciting. And it’s something that I enjoyed previously and now we get to do it all again, and a lot of the same collaborators as well. So I think having the chance to do that, to me I don’t think it’s necessarily anxious. I feel excited and sort of energized, and I think as you mentioned, the biggest challenge is really just really distinguishing – Wandavision has this more classic heroic action-y sound to it, whereas Agatha, now that we’re focusing on her character, the same sort of approach doesn’t work. And I think once we unlocked that and really figured out how to play her darkness and how to play the different layers to Agatha, then that kind of then informed what we did for the rest of the show

PC: That makes sense. Now what I really like about Marvel television is that we get to do an Agatha All Along, a Wandavision, and you were a co-composer for Hawkeye, a Christmas theme. It’s so different and it’s hard to do that in the feature film realm of the MCU. How much have you enjoyed getting to play around in these different sandboxes and is there a character you would like to pursue next in the MCU?

MP: It’s been really fun. I think one thing that I guess is different than movies is that the shows are longer, so there’s a little more room to explore and more time to develop these stories. And I think having done two series already in the Wandavision corner of the universe has been really fun, and I only know what I read about the upcoming Vision show, but he’s a character that I really enjoyed working and writing music for on Wandavision, and I’m really excited to see what his future lies ahead. And also working with Billy’s character and with Kate Bishop’s character in Hawkeye and seeing the next generation of Marvel heroes, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for that as well

PC: I keep saying that Jac Schaeffer needs her own corner of the MCU because it’s just so rich, and I think that you and Chris with your sounds also need that as well because it’s added so much. Thank you so much for taking the time, I’ve really enjoyed our conversation and I look forward to hearing more of your sound.

MP: Thanks Ron. Appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the show.