Spider-Noir composers – Kris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons say Spider-Noir demanded music that moves with the picture—then they built a New York palette that started with early jazz, expanded into punk-leaning ’90s guitar, and even turned street sounds into percussion.
The music for “Spider-Noir” didn’t just sit behind the action. Kris Bowers and Michael Dean Parsons describe a score shaped to stay in step with what’s on screen—material that doesn’t only carry themes, but rides the pacing, advances with scenes, and arcs alongside the story itself.
During IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables, Bowers put it plainly: the series was “really calling for music that is engaged with the picture,” with not only thematic material but also cues “scored with the picture, and advances with the picture, and arcs with the store.”
That approach brought the composing team into conversation with a lineup of other creators from some of the biggest shows of the past year. Jeff Russo. the composer behind “Alien: Earth. ” joined the discussion alongside Brenton Vivian for “The Madison. ” Mac Quayle for “Monster: The Ed Gein Story. ” Amanda Jones for “Murderbot. ” and John Paesano for “The Boroughs.” Together. they spoke about how their scores matched what viewers were seeing.
For Bowers and Parsons, that matching began with the show’s place and period. Parsons said that when he and Bowers started working on the score. they looked to New York influences to fit the setting and the series’ frequent noir homages. As the work went on. the duo expanded the range—moving beyond a single mood—to find an even broader sonic identity that still felt anchored to New York.
“Another big part of our discussion outside of the thematic writing initially was setting,” Parsons said. “Because this takes place in New York, and looking at that rich noir history we thought, ‘Man, we’re going to have a lot of early jazz influence.’”
What changed the trajectory, Parsons said, was how the show’s sound view broadened. As he described it. the showrunner linked New York to “punk ’90s guitar. ” and that pivot shifted the team away from treating the score as only a noir tribute. The result. Parsons said. was a more eclectic toolbox—one that could blend what noir suggests with what New York sounds like.
“That started to be like, ‘Wait this is not just a noir homage kind of score,’” Parsons said. “We’re going to take recordings and stretch them out. we’re going to record street trash cans and bucket drummers and turn that into percussion and make it into this thing that’s not just a homage but all these different influences coming together.”.
In the span of the conversation. the craft story becomes clear: the team planned around noir history and then kept building outward until the music could hold multiple versions of the city at once. The score isn’t only about referencing a style—it’s about making the setting audible. beat by beat. with the picture guiding the shape.
The panel is available as a complete watch-through in the video above. IndieWire’s TV Craft Roundtables is streaming on @PBSSoCal and the PBS App, along with IndieWire.com and the outlet’s social channels.
Spider-Noir Amazon Prime Nicolas Cage Kris Bowers Michael Dean Parsons IndieWire Craft Roundtables Jeff Russo Brenton Vivian Mac Quayle Amanda Jones John Paesano TV scoring noir music New York sound early jazz punk ’90s guitar street percussion bucket drummers trash can recordings