Jay McCarrol

Jay McCarrol is a Canadian musician, writer and actor, most noted as co-creator and co-star with Matt Johnson of Nirvanna the Band the Show. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Performance in Comedy at the 14th Canadian Screen Awards in 2026, for his work on the film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, which also netted him a win in the Best Original Song category for co-writing and performing The Alphabet Song. Outside of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, he has received recognition at four other CSA ceremonies for his musical work, including his Best Original Score win for BackBerry at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024, as well as nods for Best Original Music for a Program at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards in 2013 for I, Martin Short, Goes Home, at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 for The Second City Project, and for Best Original Score at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021 for The Kid Detective. As a writer he has received two CSA nominations for Best Writing in a Comedy Program or Series for Nirvanna the Band the Show, at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards in 2018 and at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019. His other credits have included Johnson's theatrical films The Dirties, Operation Avalanche and BlackBerry. He is a member of the synth-pop band Brave Shores, along with his sister, Stefanie.

Works

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.

Release Date2026-02-02

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Charactersd Jay

Vote Count71

Nirvanna the Band the Show

Two lifelong best friends and roommates are planning the greatest musical act in the history of the modern world.

Release Date2017-02-02

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Jay

Episode Count16

Vote Count31

Nirvana the Band the Show

Musicians Matt and Jay attempt to achieve their dream of playing at a small Toronto venue, the Rivoli, through a series of various schemes and publicity stunts.

Release Date2007-12-11

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Jay / Vince Valence (voice) / Additional Voices

Episode Count11

Vote Count6

The Dirties

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.

Release Date2013-10-04

DepartmentSound

JobMusic

Charactersd Mr. Bird

Vote Count147

Matt & Bird Break Loose

Matt & Bird Break Loose

Monkey and bird best friends, Matt and Bird, have been studying humans very closely from their shared cage in the zoo. But everything they know about being human is based on what they've seen on TV. In each episode, Matt and Bird cleverly break out of the zoo in disguise in order to chase their dreams and fame...and quickly discover it's not so easy being human.

Release Date2021-09-16

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Bird (voice)

Episode Count3

Operation Avalanche

Achieving viral success after being snuck into the Sundance Film Festival, this short film features the powerful story of a young high school boy seeking revenge against the teacher that sexually assaulted him. Inspired by a series of real rapes.

Release Date2016-01-22

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Mr. Bird

Shubadak

Two American soldiers hunting for buried treasure in Iraq meet a stranger in the dunes.

Release Date2009-12-11

Charactersd Bleaks

A Pretty Funny Story

A disturbed man threatens his neighbour to stop an amusing story getting out.

Release Date2012-10-24

Charactersd Guy at Work 3

Vote Count2

The Apostles

Jesus and the 12 apostles deal with the mundane, surprise and treachery of splitting the bill after the last supper.

Release Date2010-10-01

Charactersd Matthew

Nirvana the Band the Show the Adventures

Musicians Matt and Jay step away from their quest for the Rivoli to conquer various Toronto landmarks and seasonal traditions through a series of misguided, high-energy excursions and chaotic improvisations.

Release Date2010-04-12

Charactersd Jay

Rudy the Red-Faced Bachelor

A character study of an outdated misfit bachelor struggling to connect with others.

Release Date2012-12-22

Charactersd Sean

Captain Coulier (Space Explorer)

A space captain struggles with his robot crew during an intergalactic mission.

Release Date2009-01-16

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Charactersd Iggy

Vote Count1

Nirvana the Band the Show: Live @ the Rivoli

Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol play live at the Rivoli to wrap up their web series in 2009.

Release Date2009-07-31

Charactersd self

A Song for Torah Jane

A young dad sings his daughter to sleep with a tale of animals in the zoo. She doesn't want to nod off and he drifts into a reverie of nostalgia of his own.

Release Date2013-08-27

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd Father

BlackBerry

Two mismatched entrepreneurs – egghead innovator Mike Lazaridis and cut-throat businessman Jim Balsillie – joined forces in an endeavour that was to become a worldwide hit in little more than a decade. The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.

Release Date2023-02-13

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Vote Count902

Hell of a Summer

When 24-year-old Jason Hochberg arrives for counsellor weekend at his beloved Camp Pineway, his biggest problem is feeling out of touch with his teenage co-workers. Little does he know; a masked killer has murdered camp owners John and Kathy and is preparing to strike again.

Release Date2025-04-03

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Vote Count172

Tony

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Release Date2026-08-06

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

The Kid Detective

A once-celebrated kid detective, now 31, continues to solve the same trivial mysteries between hangovers and bouts of self-pity. Until a naive client brings him his first 'adult' case, to find out who brutally murdered her boyfriend.

Release Date2020-10-16

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Vote Count476

Crash Land

Lance, Clay, and Darby have spent their childhoods drinking, wreaking havoc, and filming crude stunts in their small town. Everyone hates them. Wanting to finally prove their lives have meaning, the boys set out to make a “real movie” and in the process are forced to confront emotions and experiences they’ve never considered: love, loss, and ultimately, what it means to grow up.

Release Date2026-03-13

DepartmentCrew

JobThanks

Operation Avalanche

In 1967, four undercover CIA agents were sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew. What they discovered led to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.

Release Date2016-09-16

DepartmentSound

JobOriginal Music Composer

Vote Count219

Matt & Bird Break Loose

Fueled by delusions of grandeur, Matt and Bird disguise themselves as humans and break out of the zoo to chase their dreams, only to learn that it's not so easy being human.

Release Date2021-09-16

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count3

Vote Count2

Loose Ends

A woman in the midst of a devastating breakup is invited to her ex-boyfriend's apartment to return his keys. However upon arriving, she discovers she has been stood up. Left to her own devices in his empty apartment, she decides to revel in the nostalgic trappings of a place that once felt like home. In an unexpected turn of events, she is forced to confront her present when someone suddenly returns home and finds her in a compromising state.

Release Date2020-12-15

DepartmentSound

JobMusic

Swink

In a small town, suburb to no city-- Eddie Swink has a problem. He has one day to find a killer hired to take out his boss, and all he has to go on is a murdered waiter, a pen, a plant, and some lasagna. With only a year of professional criminality under his belt, Eddie is caught between his duties and his instincts, and must decide who he can trust, and who he must stop. He needs answers, and he needs them now!

Release Date2006-01-01

DepartmentSound

JobMusic