This past week, Marvel Studios released the season finale of “Agatha All Along”, a nine-episode series which tells the story of the infamous Agatha Harkness, who finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road…

Recently, I got to speak with “Agatha All Along” co-composer Michael Paraskevas, where he shared some stories about how he helped create the sound for the show and how they incorporated some sounds from “WandaVision”, in addition to sharing some highlights about his work on the show.

Could you give us a brief introduction about how you got involved in creating music for shows and films?

So my dad’s a musical teacher and just grew up learning music and loving film and playing different instruments and really just kind of followed this journey all the way out here.   So I just kind of went down that road and then worked with Christophe Beck.  I started out assisting him kind of when I first moved to LA and started getting into the industry, and then we worked together on quite a few Disney projects. And over the years, I have built that up and am now to the point, where we’re able to co-collaborate on these scores and co-write them together, and it’s been a lot of fun.

Where did the inspiration come from for the sound of “Agatha All Along”?

Yeah, I think the inspiration for the sound was really when our initial conversations with Jac when we first started talking about how this is an opportunity to define what witches in the MCU and define what magic is. And so we are inspired by other witches and pop culture, and there are certain sounds that evoke evocative of that with bells and female vocals and creepy strings and stuff like that.We kind of took that and ran with it. So another thing that we really focused on, too, is how this actor that kind of subverts the superhero sound. And so we really kind of avoided the more traditional heroic instruments like French horns and trumpets and kind of avoiding the more classical orchestra to create something that’s a little more bizarre and alien and unsettling.  I think I’m just really leaning into that sort of creative approach.

The Ballad of Witches Road song is a major part of the story. How did you incorporate that into the score?

Yeah, incorporating the Ballad was really fun. Bob and Kristen wrote an incredible song that I still sing all the time, and it was really fun. That sort of became like a beacon for the whole show. And so what we really did is it was fun because we passing it around, and so in the first episode, it opens up with Agatha driving, and she’s literally whistling the tune to herself in the car, and then the score immediately picks it up, and we play it on piano and we kind of just drop these different breadcrumbs throughout. And then, by the time we get to episode two and the coven’s actually performing it for the first time, the audience has already heard it and is familiar with it, and this is a really fulfilling moment. And then we kind of keep building on that through subsequent episodes.

You also worked on “WandaVision”, how did you incorporate that show into “Agatha All Along”?

Yeah, we did. We brought a couple of the main themes or motifs when we really wanted to make very specific references back to wa Vission. And so Wanda’s theme has this first three notes that we kind sprinkle throughout when, especially as we’re kind of going through Billy’s journey and he’s understanding his identity and his connection to the past. And then we also, in several other moments referenced the love theme between “WandaVision. Then, in episode five, Agatha encounters the ghost of her mom. Then we bring back the theme that we use for Agatha in “WandaVision” as well, sort of tying back to her trauma with her mom and her background there.

You also worked on another Disney+ series, “Hawkeye.” How different was working on that show compared to “Agatha All Along?”

Hawkeye was really fun. Our approach to Hawkeye was really leaning into the Christmas spirit of it, and it really feels like this big holiday show that’s also a Marvel story, and so kind of marrying the classic superhero Marvel sound with those Christmas colours. And Agatha, our approach was almost on the surface. It seems like a Halloween show, but we weren’t necessarily trying to push the Halloween sort of vibes about it, but leaning into the dark witch of it and, as I said earlier, kind of subverting that superhero sound and sort of approaching it the opposite way, kind of backwards almost, and not challenging expectations and what we’re used in that sort of Marvel universe.

What’s been your biggest highlight working on “Agatha All Along”?

I think for me, the biggest highlight is just the coven of our collaborators. It’s such an amazing group of creators and thinkers, and I think we’re inspired by the visual world that’s already there, the amazing costume designs, the amazing performances, and then, of course, the song, as we mentioned. And then really celebrating the womanhood in this story and the diversity on screen and the queer representation. That’s not something that I think a lot of people see or feel heard in a way and kind of these bigger stories. And so I think there’s something that’s really empowering about that and that we all, as we were working on it, just celebrating that together. And I think Jack and Mary’s vision from the get-go is really kind and unifying in that way.

What was the biggest challenge working on “Agatha All Along”?

The biggest challenge definitely was keeping it cohesive musically because in a lot of projects, once you set up the sound palette, you kind of just stay in that or build on that through the rest of the show. But for this each episode, the covens going to a different house, a different trial, a different era. And so we have to build each one from scratch and then take a step back and figure out how to actually make sure they’re all interconnected, and it doesn’t feel like discombobulating as you’re going back and forth. That’s why we have very strong themes for Agatha, Billy, and Rio, as well as these different motifs that kind of keep everything glued together.

You’ve also worked on several other projects, including the “Ant-Man” movies, “Frozen 2”, and “Free Guy”. What other Disney franchises would you like to work on in the future?

Good question. I mean, I grew up on Disney, and so I mean, I think a lot of people like Star Wars. I grew up on the first two trilogies and would play the video games, play Battlefront, play Rogue Squadron, and it’s such a tive soil for music, obviously because of John Williams and the legacy that he’s left. And I think it’s a really special thing. And then I also love all the Pixar movies, and I think they’re always just really creative and interesting and nuanced and in a way that’s really special. And I think as a composer, as a creator artist, that’s something that’s really exciting.

Check out the full interview below:

You can find every episode of Marvel’s “Agatha All Along” on Disney+ now.

What did you think of the music from “Agatha All Along”?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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