The Muppets are back on our screens with brand new show The Muppets Mayhem hitting Disney Plus today! Focusing on The Muppet Show's beloved house band The Electric Mayhem, the whole gang are back including Dr. Teeth on vocals and keyboards, Animal on drums, Floyd Pepper on vocals and bass, Janice on vocals and lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone, and Lips on trumpet.
Although the band made their debut in 1975, The Electric Mayhem have never recorded a studio album - until now! New series The Muppets Mayhem follows the group's epic yet manic journey to record their first-ever studio album, with young and enthusiastic music executive Nora (Lilly Singh) helping them come to terms with the modern day music scene.
12DOVE recently caught up with stars Animal and Floyd Pepper via Zoom – yes, really – to discuss all things their new show, dream musical collaborations, celebrity cameos, and more. The interview became very chaotic very, very fast...
12DOVE: Hey Floyd! Hey Animal!
Floyd: Hey, what’s up!
Animal: Rawrrrrrr...
12DOVE: Thanks for joining me today! I loved the show and have plenty of questions! So, it’s all about recording your first album - what was that experience like?
Floyd: Oh man... I’m gonna describe the experience as hip and groovy.
Animal: Groooovvyyyyy.
Floyd: That’s right, cutting an album, this album in particular, and unleashing it upon the world has been a dream come true.
Animal: Yeah, yeah, dream come true.
Floyd: Especially since we got to create it with our best friends.
Animal: Best friends, best friends!
Floyd: I’m talking about the Electric Mayhem of course!
12DOVE: Yes, the whole gang.
Animal: *looks at Floyd questioningly*
Floyd: *to Animal* It’s you yeah!
12DOVE: Of course, it’s Animal! But we do see all of you perform a lot together in this show. Which is your favorite song to perform live?
Animal: Aw yeah, that easy – ROCK ON, ROCK ON! *laughs*
Floyd: Yeahhhh… our new song Rock On from our debut album, is the perfect song to experience live and to play live.
Animal: Yeah. Crowd surf!
Floyd: Crowd surf?
Animal: Animal like crowd surf.
Floyd: Yeah, he likes to crowd surf and that’s a pretty good crowd surfing song. But we don’t do it often though – we lost Zoot for two days after he crowdsurfed, we found him three counties over, they just kept passing him on and on….
Animal: CROWD SURF *enthusiastically jumps onto Floyd*
Floyd: *screams* Oh, man! *struggles to get back up*
12DOVE: Floyd, are you okay?
Floyd: I’m okay, but I think I slipped a disc… ahhhhhh. It’s okay man, we good - I should have taken him out for a longer walk this morning. I’m sorry, please continue!
12DOVE: You work with a lot of famous musicians in this show, who is someone you haven’t already worked with that you would love to do a collab with?
Floyd: Oooohh, we have got a potential list of collaborators.
Animal: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You too…
Floyd: Yeah I’ve got a list as well…
Animal: No, U2!
12DOVE: Oh, the band U2?
Animal: Yeahhhhhhhhh!
Floyd: Oh the band… Yeah, I’m sorry I thought you were asking if I had a list and I do. But on our list, it’s about five miles long and U2 is definitely at the top of that list…
Animal: Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Floyd: That’s right! But also Dua Lipa, Sam Smith…
Animal: ADELE! Let’s all play!
12DOVE: Oh, I love Adele!
Floyd: That’s right! Trust us, it’s an incredibly illustrious list… we would all be lucky to work together.
Animal: Collab, collab!
12DOVE: Talking about celebrities, we see a lot pop up in the show from Morgan Freeman to Kevin Smith… which is the highlight for you?
Floyd: Wow…
12DOVE: Yeah, big question!
Floyd: It really is. Every single of them were highlights… Kesha, Billy Corgan, Zed…
Animal: Desiigner. DEADMAU5!
Floyd: That’s right… we also had Steve Aoki, Danny Trejo, Cheech & Chong - they were awesome. Lots of musical guests, comic greats – you just gotta tune in to catch them all.
12DOVE: And what was it like working with [REDACTED]?
Floyd: Oh no… that’s a secret.
Animal: Animal don’t know about that… you bad, naughty!
12DOVE: Yes, that was very naughty! But you can tell us about Nora… Animal, you really love Nora.
Animal: Norraaaaa. Nora. NORA!
Floyd: That’s right. Nora digs Animal and Animal digs Nora. Ain’t that right?
Animal: I love Nora…
Floyd: You love her! But our relationship started out a little rocky, but you know.. It’s how we roll!
Animal: Noraaaaaaaa!
Floyd: Yeah, it will now be difficult to get him off this subject.
12DOVE: But I am sadly running out of time so I have to ask my last question. So, now you have recorded your first album what’s next for the band – a season 2, a road trip?
Floyd: What’s next for me is a nap!
12DOVE: It’s well deserved!
Floyd: Oh yeah, or even better, a nap on vacation!
Animal: How bout lunch?
Floyd: Oh lunch is good too, I’m starving. That’s something we love about being in London, there are so many tea breaks. Thanks so much for joining us today!
12DOVE: Thanks so much Floyd and Animal! Will catch you later.
Aniaml: Byeeeee. TEA TIME! Rawwwwrr!
The Muppets Mayhem is available to stream now on Disney Plus with the accompanying soundtrack with classic tunes and original songs also available to stream and download. And if you are looking for another great show to watch after finishing The Muppets Mayhem, check out our guide to the best shows on Disney Plus.
