Of all the fastastically drawn elements to Marvel’s Agatha All Along, the music feels so tied into the journey of its characters. It winks at you before holding out a hand to invite you onto the Road with this coven of ragtag witches. When we set out for a road trip, one of the first things we do is create a playlist, but composer Michael Paraskevas, along with Christophe Beck, have created the ultimate aural experience with their original score of Jac Schaeffer’s already iconic season.
Paraskevas is familiar with the Marvel world having worked on Hawkeye, and Beck was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on WandaVision. Agatha, however, feels like the character has been set free whereas WandaVision contained the character until the big reveal towards the end of the season. When an unpredictable character is let loose, you can go anywhere, but Paraskevas knew they were dealing with an unconvential, genre-defying story.
“Chris [Beck] and I talked a lot about Agatha as an anti-hero and how it’s not a traditional Marvel sort of story,” Paraskevas says. “Our initial demos kind of leaned more into that classic sound, but it wasn’t working at all. Since she’s a villain, we had to figure out what her sound was while also letting the audience like her. Kathryn [Hahn] is very funny but then she turns around and bullies everyone. We wanted to honor that plus add in some horror elements that lead into the tropes of that with the different decades.
We established this foundational sound for what the Road is, and it’s kind of broken instruments–a non-traditional orchestra. We had a string ensemble with six trombones and a tuba, but no trumpets, no French horns and barely any woodwinds. That allowd us to get into this gnarly twisted world that the characters are living in. We could then build on the sounds of different eras and get really unique combinations of sounds and textures. We talked about taking these familiar instruments and organic sounds but then playing notes wrong or playing as if the instrument was broken. That, I think, added to the sort of eerie edge.”
In the track titled, “Rio,” Paraskevas and Beck lean into an airy, mysterious sound. It conjures up images of being on the Road, in the woods, and you can hear a whistling in the distance. Is Death calling to us in that moment? After all, Death comes for us all, and the track has a delicious evolution as you hear it. There is a sense of sad, foreboding inevitability before it shatters into a disorienting sphere of sound.
“There are two parts to that cue,” he says. “With Rio’s character, there’s a real duality to her. There is this sensitive, heartbroken ex-lover to Agatha side, so that was something we were going for in the first part. Their chemistry and their relationship. The brokenness of the cue, with the wind, is actually me playing clarinet, and then Chris added this synth to it. They are kind of intertwined that lends itself to that airy quality. We have all this electronic processing on it, like with how it bends between notes. That extra layer helps that familiarty feel more alien or out of this world.”
How do you score for someone so specifically slippery like Agatha Harkness? Paraskevas and Beck rose to the challenge of providing a grandiosity for the radical nature of the character, but they turn it on its head. This is the kind of theme where you ignore the ‘skip credits’ button, because it musically embodies the spirit of the action on screen. I love how the plucking of the strings takes us to a time and place (very, very old school sorcery, if you ask me), but the last loud booming tells you to buckle up before you step onto the Road.
“We tried to really capture this mischief, this mischievous quality to her,” he says. “She interacts with everyone, and there is an almost bouncy quality to that, but, at the same time, there is a constant dark undertone. We used a dulcimer with the loop, and that is another folksy string instrument that was commonly used in Appalachia or Salem. We wanted to acknowledge her background, and the female vocals are a nod to that feeling that’s often associated with witches, but we leaned more into that in WandaVision. We were very careful to not overdo the vocals with this show, so we were very specific in how to do that. It adds this eerie element. Throughout the season, when we play her theme, we’re easily able to do like a fun, kitschy, mischievous Agatha, but we play it on piano in episode one when she goes into Nicky’s room. We slow it down so it’s more heartfelt. Eventually, we understand her relationship with Nicky and Agatha’s trama from that, so we were able to play her theme in different ways to navigate her journey through the season.”
One of the most emotional moments of this first season was when we said goodbye to Patti LuPone’s Lilia. The track titled ‘The Tower (Reversed)’ has a warm, hopeful quality that serves as a farewell to the character while it carries an undercurrent of finality to it. The sound that accompanies the scene spinning on its head is married to the image of Lilia grasping onto the stone table in my mind. Paraskevas reveals how they included a key element to all of the deaths in this story.
“That whole sequence and leading up to it is probably one of my favorite moments of the entire show,” Paraskevas says. “I cry every time we put that line, ‘I love being a witch’ to music. We’re combining so many different layers and subtext for what’s happening on screen. Lilia is sacrificing herself, but we have Rio’s theme playing because we’re using that as the representation of Death. Here it’s being used in a more sacrificial and heartfelt manner. If you go back through the show, you might notice that we reference Rio’s theme in every time someone dies. This moment felt like the most expressive moment of that, and when the Salem Seven come in, it shifts gears where we keep Rio’s death theme going with those textures underneath it. It’s also playing the sort of empowerment of Lilia as she’s made peace with her decision and she’s bringing it all down with her.”
With every new episode, you literally don’t know what you’re in for since the trials swing a massive pendulum when it comes to tone, genre, and theme. The composers knew that the music would help center the emotionality of the story.
“That’s definitely the biggest challenge on the show,” he says. “But it’s also the most fun aspect of it. We get to do so many different styles, and you can see that also reflected in the production design, the costumes, the hair and makeup. Normally, when you establish the palette of your show, you develop it throughout the series, but each episode of Agatha is starting from scratch and building a world for a certain amount of time.”
Every witch deserves a good theme. Whether it’s magically appearing in a pristine living room like Endora or bolting out on a broom like the Sanderson Sisters, music helps transport the audience in such a delicious way. If Paraskevas has his way, what would would he like to score for?
“Buffy comes to mind, and that show was an influence for Jac [Schaeffer],” Paraskevas says. “I love the character of Billy, and I like the modern world and sound of him versus the folklore aspect. I love combining those things. Buffy [the Vampire Slayer] reminds of of that high school dramedy with all these supernatural elements. I feel like it’s a kindred spirit to Agatha All Along.”
Agatha All Along is streaming now on Disney+.
