Jay McCarrol

For the American fashion designer, see Jay McCarroll.

Jay McCarrol (born August 9, 1983) is a Canadian musician, composer, writer, and actor, most noted as the co-star of the independent web series Nirvana the Band the Show, its spiritual sequel television series Nirvanna the Band the Show, and the feature film based on both, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, all of which he co-created with filmmaker and lifelong best friend Matt Johnson.^[1]

Jay McCarrol
Born	(1983-08-09) August 9, 1983 (age 42) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)	Composer, screenwriter, actor
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Nirvana the Band the Show Nirvanna the Band the Show Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie The Kid Detective

In addition to his acting and screenwriting credits, McCarrol works as a film/television composer, usually on projects directed Johnson. As of March 2025, he has composed the scores for all of Johnson's feature films to date.

McCarrol and his sister, Stefanie, formed a synth pop duo called Brave Shores in 2014.

Career

He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Score at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024, for his work on the film BlackBerry.^[2] He was previously a nominee for Best Original Music for a Program at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards in 2013 for I, Martin Short, Goes Home^[3] and at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 for The Second City Project,^[4] and for Best Original Score at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021 for The Kid Detective.^[5]

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^[6] and at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019.^[7]

His other credits have included Johnson's theatrical films The Dirties, Operation Avalanche and BlackBerry.

Filmography

Film

As writer/composer

Year	Title	Writer	Composer	Actor	Notes
2013	The Dirties	No	Yes	Yes
2016	Operation Avalanche	No	Yes	No
2020	The Kid Detective	No	Yes	No
2023	BlackBerry	No	Yes	No
	Hell of a Summer	No	Yes	No
2025	Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Matt Johnson

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	The Dirties	Mr. Bird	Minor role
2025	Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie	Jay	Fictionalised version of himself

Television

As writer/composer

Year(s)	Title	Creator	Writer	Composer	Producer	Actor	Notes
2012	I, Martin Short, Goes Home	No	No	Yes	No	No
2015	The Second City Project	No	No	Yes	No	No
2017–2018	Nirvanna the Band the Show	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-created with Matt Johnson, co-wrote all 16 episodes with Andrew Appelle, Robert Hyland, Curt Lobb, Matthew Miller, Matt Johnson, and Jared Raab

As actor

Years	Title	Role	Notes
2017–2018	Nirvanna the Band the Show	Jay	Fictionalised version of himself

Web

As writer/composer

Years	Title	Creator	Writer	Composer	Actor	Notes
2007–2009	Nirvana the Band the Show	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-created and co-wrote all 11 episodes with Matt Johnson

As actor

Years	Title	Role	Notes
2007–2009	Nirvana the Band the Show	Jay	Fictionalised version of himself