Toronto band Animal set to perform today at jazz festival’s Sounds of Leslieville and Riverside

By JULIA SAWICKI

For Toronto-based band Animal, performing at the Beaches International Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 4, is more than an opportunity to share their music with the community. It’s a full-circle moment that pays tribute to the festival that helped inspire the band’s formation.

Made up of Aidan McKenna on guitar and vocals, Nathan Dyck on keys and vocals, Jordan Baker on guitar and vocals, and Dan Baier on drums, Animal blends soul, indie, folk and rock through a collaborative approach built on improvisation and a shared love of music.

Baker and McKenna played together in a band while attending university before both moving to Toronto. Although they remained friends, music had taken a back seat in their minds until Baker attended the Beaches Jazz Festival several years ago.

“I was like, ‘Why am I still not playing music? Why are we still not doing this?;” recalled Baker. “I called up Aidan and said, ‘We’ve got to start a band again.’”

Around the same time, Dyck met McKenna at an open jam session in Toronto’s Grange Park. The pair quickly connected, and McKenna introduced him to Baker. After auditioning Baier, the lineup was complete.

“There’s just this really amazing chemistry that we, I think collectively, had never experienced in a band setting before,” said Baker.

Within a month of coming together, the band signed a lease on a rehearsal studio they nicknamed The Habitat. Playing off the band’s name, they transformed the basement rehearsal space into a makeshift jungle, complete with vines, leaves and trees.

The Habitat serves as much more than a rehearsal space. The band hosts jam sessions, invite-only concerts and performances featuring other local musicians, creating what they describe as a creative hub built around collaboration and community.

They call the Toronto music scene challenging, but perfectly unique, offering a space for anyone that needs it.

“Because it’s such a large city, there’s such a diverse set of niche interests,’ explained Baker. “There’s a community for almost everything, and in that we’ve been able to create a sense of intimacy in what feels like a big city. You come to enough of our shows, and you start to see the same people again and again.”

“It can be hard to find people you really resonate with,” added Dyck. “For me, that’s one of the special things that we’re doing. Creating this space where people can find each other.”

For their Beaches International Jazz Festival performance today, Animal will debut a seven-piece lineup, adding a brass section and a percussionist in the spirit of the festival.

The band is known for reinventing its live shows, often shifting between folk, rock and fully improvised sets. Dyck also performs both keyboard and synth bass, playing two keyboards simultaneously instead of using a traditional bass player.

“We like to keep ourselves inspired and engaged by the music, so we’ll usually throw a wrench for ourselves in some sense,” said Dyck. 

Animals debut single “I believe,” was released in 2024, and their 2025 album, “Live From The Habitat,” are both available on streaming services. 

Jazz fest fans can see and hear Animal in performance on Saturday, July 4, at 3:30 p.m. during the Sounds of Leslieville and Riverside at Jimmie Simpson Park, 872 Queen St. E.

To learn more about Animal, please visit https://animal.band/

To see the Saturday Jazz Fest Lineup, please visit https://www.beachesjazz.com/sounds-of-leslieville