Frederick MacDonald "Mac" Quayle, Jr. is an American composer for film, television, and video games. He has worked as the score composer for several TV series, including American Horror Story, Mr. Robot, Scream Queens, American Crime Story, Feud, Pose, 9-1-1 and its spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, and The Politician. Quayle has also scored additional music for films and video games, and has mixed and produced scores led by other composers.

Mac Quayle
Quayle in 2018
Quayle in 2018
Background information
Birth nameFrederick MacDonald Quayle, Jr.
BornSuffolk, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • arranger
Years active1987–present
Formerly of
Websitemacquayle.com

Quayle began his career in the late 1980s, working with producer Hex Hector as HQ2 and briefly performing in hip-hop band Rise Robots Rise. He worked with Cliff Martinez as an additional composer for several films, including Drive, Contagion (both 2011), and Spring Breakers (2013). He won the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for Mr. Robot, and has also been nominated for three other Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Early life and education

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Frederick MacDonald Quayle, Jr.[1] was born in Suffolk, Virginia to Fred Quayle, a lawyer and politician, and Brenda Smith.[2] He spent his early childhood in Richmond before his family moved to Norfolk. He first discovered a passion for music at age six when he sang in the choir of the Christ and St. Luke's Church, later taking piano and percussion lessons.[3]

He attended Matthew Fontaine Maury High School for three years, but in Quayle's final year of high school, his family moved again to Chesapeake, where he ultimately graduated from Western Branch High School. During school, he served as a band member for two different bands: The Naros and The X-Raves.[3]

Career

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Quayle moved to New York City to attend New York University, but departed when his internship at a studio allowed him to make a living working as a keyboard player and programmer.[3]

In 2004, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an additional composer for the CBS crime drama Cold Case. He was introduced to film composer Cliff Martinez, and would work under him on films such as The Lincoln Lawyer, Drive, and Contagion (all 2011).[3] His work was noticed by Ryan Murphy when Quayle and Martinez worked on his television film The Normal Heart (2014), and invited him to audition to be the composer for the fourth season of American Horror Story.[4] He was hired the day after his audition.[3] Quayle went on to compose the score for Murphy's programs Scream Queens,[5] American Crime Story, Feud, 9-1-1, Pose, The Politician, 9-1-1: Lone Star, and Ratched.[6] He scored both seasons of the British thriller series The Pact.[7]

Beginning in October 2018, Quayle collaborated with Gustavo Santaolalla to provide additional music for the 2020 video game The Last of Us Part II.[8] At the 17th British Academy Games Awards, Quayle, Santaolalla, and Scott Hanau were nominated for the British Academy Games Award for Music.[9]

For his work on the pilot episode of Mr. Robot, Quayle was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.[10] He was also nominated for his work on American Horror Story and Feud.[11][12]

Personal life

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Quayle is married to Cat Deakins,[3] with whom he has two children.[13]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Close to Home Additional music composer 3 episodes
2006–2010 Cold Case Additional music composer
2014 The Normal Heart Television film
2013 Bad Samaritans Composer
2014–present American Horror Story
2014 The Knick End title music arrangement Episode: "Crutchfield"
2015–2019 Mr. Robot Composer
2015–2016 Scream Queens
2016–present American Crime Story
2017 Feud
2018–present 9-1-1 With Todd Haberman
2018–2021 Pose
2019–2020 The Politician
2020-present 9-1-1: Lone Star With Todd Haberman and Justin Burnett
2020-present Ratched
2021–2022 The Pact
2021 American Horror Stories Episodes: ""Rubber(wo)Man Part One" and "Rubber(wo)Man Part Two"
2022 Gaslit

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Lincoln Lawyer Music programmer Composer: Cliff Martinez
Drive
Contagion Additional composer
2012 Arbitrage
Savages Additional music programmer Composer: Adam Peters
The Company You Keep Additional composer Composer: Cliff Martinez
Stolen Composer: Mark Isham
Spring Breakers Composer: Cliff Martinez
2013 Only God Forgives
2023 Leave the World Behind Composer

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 Far Cry 4 Additional composer Composer: Cliff Martinez
2020 The Last of Us Part II Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Episode Result Ref(s)
2015 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special American Horror Story: Freak Show "Orphans" Nominated [14]
2016 Outstanding Music Composition for a Series Mr. Robot "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov" Won [14]
2017 Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special Feud: Bette and Joan "Pilot" Nominated [14]
Outstanding Main Title Theme
2021 British Academy Games Awards Best Music The Last of Us Part II Nominated[a] [9]

Notes

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  1. ^ Shared with Gustavo Santaolalla and Scott Hanau

References

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  1. ^ Ress, Dave (November 26, 2018). "Former state Sen. Fred Quayle dies". Daily Press. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  2. ^ "Frederick M. Quayle (1936 - 2018)". The Virginian-Pilot. Tribune Publishing, via Legacy. November 26, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Poulter, Amy (October 17, 2019). "From Hampton Roads to Hollywood: How Mac Quayle became the man responsible for TV's eeriest soundtracks". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  4. ^ "Freaks, Screams And Normal Hearts - Composer Mac Quayle". LA 411. May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  5. ^ Galas, Marj (May 28, 2015). "Composer Gives American Horror Story Queens Music to Scream By". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (June 4, 2021). "From Pose to The Politician, Composer Mac Quayle on Scoring Ryan Murphy's Musical Universe". Variety. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  7. ^ Wilson, Sean (June 1, 2021). "Mac Quayle discusses how eight hardware synths beat a thousand plug-ins". Composer. Spitfire Audio. Archived from the original on June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  8. ^ "Behind the Additional Music of The Last of Us Part II". Composer. Spitfire Audio. October 21, 2020. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Hoggins, Tom (March 2, 2021). "Bafta Games Awards 2021: Record-breaking The Last of Us 2 leads nominations". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  10. ^ "Mr. Robot". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "Awards Nominees and Winners". Primetime Emmy Awards. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  12. ^ "Emmys 2017: Full List of Nominations". Variety. July 13, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  13. ^ Mr. Robot, Vol. 3 (Original Television Series Soundtrack) (booklet). Mac Quayle. Lakeshore Entertainment. 2017. LKS350162.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ a b c "Mac Quayle - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
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