Despite spending the past several years composing the score to “Westworld,” Ramin Djawadi has never given much thought to what he’d do were he thrust into the HBO series’ titular location. Based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi film, which imagined a consequence-free theme park where visitors could indulge in their innermost gunslinger fantasies alongside android outlaws and ranchers, “Westworld” offers a more existential interpretation of the original by focusing on the machines’ journey towards self-awareness—and the consequences that follow. “What’s interesting about the idea of a theme park like that and how it’s portrayed in the show is that it brings out the best and worst in people,” Djawadi says over the phone from his Los Angeles studio. “It’s an interesting concept, thinking of oneself being in that park and what you would do, what would you want to get out of it.”

Deep into a composing career anchored by six seasons (so far) spent scoring “Game of Thrones,” Djawadi has approached HBO’s latest prestige TV favorite with a strong sense of place and contrast. Scenes taking place in the park’s frontier landscape assume a more natural quality via acoustic guitars and percussion, while those set in the cold, glass-walled control center echo with synths and other electronics. Then there are the musical easter eggs that Djawadi arranges, and that viewers can’t seem to stop discussing, for better and often for worse: the player piano that offers up vaguely warped renditions of modern songs like Radiohead’s “No Surprises,” Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” and the Cure’s “A Forest.” “What I love about that is it just comes out of nowhere and you don’t expect it at all,” Djawadi says. “You see the settings and the way people are dressed and even though you know it’s robots and it’s all made to be modern entertainment, you would think the people in control would make everything authentic, including whatever is played on that player piano. It would be from that time period. And when it’s not, it’s that subtle reminder that, ‘Wait, there is something not right. This is not real.’ It’s just such a powerful tool that only music can do.”

Pitchfork: How were you first introduced to “Westworld” creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy?

Ramin Djawadi: Well, Jonah and I were working on “Person of Interest” and one day he pulled me into his office and said, “So I’m starting this new show. Would you be interested?’ And I said, “Well, what is it?” My jaw dropped when he said “Westworld” because the original movie was one of my favorites as a kid. I got so excited, thinking, “Oh my God, with that story and with Jonah’s spin on it, I’m sure it’s going to be incredible.” While we were working on “Person of Interest,” we were already talking ideas and I started writing music for it very, very early on, which most of the time I don’t do. Usually I come in towards the end during post-production when the episodes or the movie are already shot, and I get to see visuals. But this one I started writing just based on the conversations with Jonah. Then he started giving me scripts, and from that I started writing more. It was great just having that back and forth with him before there were even any visuals.