Casey Manierka-Quaile, also known as Casey MQ, is a Canadian singer, musician, film composer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2022, he won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards for "And Then We Don't", a song he co-wrote with Tika Simone for Thyrone Tommy's film Learn to Swim.
Career
MQ began making music sometime during the 2010s. Formerly associated with the band Unbuttoned, MQ released his solo debut album, titled babycasey, in 2020. In the same year, he was one of the creators of Club Quarantine, a popular Zoom-based online club night for LGBTQ audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, MQ followed up with the remix album babycasey: ultra.
He has also been a member of the reunited lineup of 1980s New Wave band Spoons, and was one of the producers on Cadence Weapon's Polaris Music Prize-winning album Parallel World.
Discography
Albums
- babycasey (2020, Halcoline Trance)
- Later that day, the day before, or the day before that (2024, Ghostly International)
EPs
- For the Beasts (with oklou) (2017, self-released)
- Nudes (2018, Creamcake)
- Two Songs (Live) (2023, Cascine)
As film composer
- Mary Goes Round (with Dillon Baldassero, 2017, dir. Molly McGlynn)
- Firecrackers (2018, dir. Jasmin Mozaffari)
- Honey Bee (2018, dir. Rama Rau)
- Tito (2019, dir. Grace Glowicki)
- Easy Land (2019, dir. Sanja Živković)
- Raf (2019, dir. Harry Cepka)
- Fitting In (2023, dir. Molly McGlynn)
- Backspot (2023, dir. D. W. Waterson)
- The Heirloom (2024, dir. Ben Petrie)
Remixes
- Jeremy Dutcher – "Pomok na Poktoinskwes" (2018)
- Christine and the Queens – "Comme si" (2019)
- Detente – "Candles in the Wind" (2021)
- Sophia Bel – "You're Not Real You're Just a Ghost" (2021)
- Anna Clandening – "Girls Like You" (2022)
Guest appearances
- WolF J McFarlane – "Deaf Ears" (2013)
- Emay – "7th" (2017)
- 2nd Son – "Only Underground" (2017)
- Cadence Weapon – "Infinity Pool" (2018)
- DJ Charme – "Saudade" (2018)
- L CON – "The Art of Staying Together" (2018)
- Suicideyear – "Said and Done" (2018)
- Desiire – "Goodbyes" (2018)
- Sparrows – "On Air" (2019)
- PBDY – "Prey/Pray" (2019)
- oklou – "girl on my throne" (2020)
- a l l i e – "Clean Sight" (2021)
- Aasthma – "3AM" (2022)
- Bliptor – "Back of Mind" (2022)
- myst milano. – "NBHD" (2023)
Other contributions
| Title | Year | Lead artist | Album | Credit(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | Production | Instrumentation | Vocals | Arrangement | ||||
| "Get Up" | 2018 | TiKA | Non-album single | Co | ||||
| "Anywayz" | 2020 | Austra | HiRUDiN | Additional | ||||
| "It's Amazing" | Additional | |||||||
| "I Am Not Waiting" | Additional | |||||||
| "fall" | oklou | Galore | Additional | |||||
| "unearth me" | Additional | |||||||
| "god's chariots" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "galore" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "nightime" | Yes | Co | Additional | |||||
| "asturias" (feat. Zero Castigo) |
Additional | |||||||
| "rosebud" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "girl on my throne" (feat. Casey MQ) |
Yes | Yes | Featured | |||||
| "another night" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "Connect" | 2021 | Cadence Weapon | Parallel World | Yes | Yes | |||
| "Clean Sight" (feat. Casey MQ) |
a l l i e | Tabula Rasa | Yes | Featured | ||||
| "Highest Building" (feat. oklou) |
2022 | Flume | Palaces | Yes | ||||
| "No Sleep" | 2023 | Sophia Bel | Anxious Avoidant Deluxe | Co | ||||
| "Puppets for the Gods" | Rozie Ramati | TBA | Co | |||||
| "Crush" (feat. Erika de Casier) |
Shygirl | Nymph_o | Yes | Co | ||||
| "Malocchio" | Kara Lane | Chokehold EP | Yes | Co | ||||
| "Fruit (Red, White & Royal Blue Version) |
Oliver Sim | Red, White & Royal Blue (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Yes | Yes | ||||
| "Lexicon" | Vagabon | Sorry I Haven't Called | Yes | Additional | Programming | |||
| "Autobahn" | Yes | Additional | Wurlitzer, organ | |||||
| "Nothing to Lose" | Synthesizer | |||||||
| "Interlude" | Additional | Synthesizer, drum programming | ||||||
| "Made Out with Your Best Friend" | Yes | Additional | Synthesizer, drum programming | |||||
| "Sugarcane Switch" | Eartheater | Powders | Yes | Co | ||||
| "Clean Break" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "rosa" | Namasenda | Ambrosia | Co | |||||
| "Idolize" | Dorian Electra | Fanfare | Yes | Co | ||||
| "Yes Man" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "Touch Grass" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "Lifetime" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "Warning Signs" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "CUT MY HEART OUT" | daine | TBA | Yes | Co | ||||
| "Precious/Pressure" | a l l i e | Yes | Yes | |||||
| "For Your Consideration" | 2024 | Empress Of | For Your Consideration | Yes | Additional | |||
| "What Type of Girl Am I?" | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| "Baby Boy" | Yes | Additional | ||||||
| "Alarms" (feat. Austra) |
Cadence Weapon | ROLLERCOASTER | Yes | Yes | ||||
| "Fire" | rei brown | Aura | Yes | |||||
| "Not Your Angel" | Zsela | Big For You | Yes | Co | Synthesizer, live drums, piano | |||
| "Brand New" | Yes | |||||||
| "Play" | Yes | Co | Piano, synthesizer, drum | |||||
| "Blink Twice" | Cecile Believe | Tender the Spark | Yes | |||||
| "Red Brick" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "Blue Sun" | Yes | Co | ||||||
| "family and friends" | oklou | TBA | Yes | Co | Choir | |||
References
- Trey Alston, "Would You Be Casey MQ's 'Candyboy'?". Paper, November 26, 2020.
- "Night Raiders, Scarborough emerge victorious at 5th night of Canadian Screen Awards". CBC News, April 8, 2022.
- Elio Iannacci, "Cupid's revenge". Fashion, February 2017.
- Rachel Evangeline Chong, "Casey MQ Celebrates and Interrogates the Glamour of '90s Boy Band Pop on 'babycasey'". Exclaim!, August 17, 2020.
- Alex Hudson, "Casey MQ Is Keeping Toronto's Nightlife Alive with Club Quarantine, Isolation's Biggest Queer Dance Party". Exclaim!, April 10, 2020.
- Alex Hudson, "Casey MQ Announces 'babycasey: ultra' Remix Album". Exclaim!, September 29, 2021.
- Coral Andrews, "Spoons continue fun-loving journey". Waterloo Region Record, February 10, 2017.
- Jenny Feniak, "Cadence Weapon's Parallel World wins 2021 Polaris Music Prize as best Canadian album". Edmonton Journal, October 1, 2021.