DANIEL Johns imagines his 14-year-old Silverchair self would “pass out and die” at the invitation to reinvent Beatles songs for children.

That is exactly what he has spent more than two years doing, reimagining Fab Four favourites for the bold animated television series Beat Bugs, created by his friend, Australian scriptwriter and director Josh Wakely.

Pink, Eddie Vedder, James Corden, Robbie Williams and Sia have also lent their voices to the new takes on Beatles classics including Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, Blackbird, Help!, Come Together and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

The 37-year-old musician, who friends say is healthier than he has been in several years, has immersed himself in work since relocating to Los Angeles two months ago.

He has also been spotted with a new mystery girlfriend.

“I’m feeling really good, really inspired because there is so much stuff going on here, I’m here to escape, I am here to do something,” he said.

“I don’t really feel good unless I am working, it makes me feel good to be creative.

“I could take it to the next level and work every single day and have the inevitable nervous breakdown but I’m joking, I take a couple of days off like normal people do.”

He has been responsible for rearranging 34 of the songs for 52 episodes of the uplifting animated show which follows five best friends who discover life’s most important lessons in an overgrown suburban backyard.

Johns also had to compose other music for the show which will introduce the Beatles to a generation catered to by The Wiggles, Hi-5 and Yo Gabba Gabba.

Wakely spent six years developing the ambitious series inspired by the simple premise of the Beatles’ classic All You Need Is Love.

Half of that long journey was spent acquiring the rights to record covers of the entire Lennon/McCartney Northern Songs catalogue as permission had never been granted for anyone to use all their Beatles works.

Johns said he had to tone down some of his “wild and psychedelic” reinventions of the iconic band’s beloved tunes and often found himself wondering “what would John Lennon do” when he felt overwhelmed by the ambitious project.

The Beatles famed producer George Martin and Beach Boys creative supremo were also inspirations when he was fashioning his new versions.

“I would defy any musician to say no to this but I was scared because it’s so iconic and everyone knows every part of their songs,” he says.

“A lot of the time I was ironically thinking about how George Martin or Brian Wilson would do this job because they were so good getting that childhood innocence with heart.”

Johns said one of the highlights of the project was the involvement of Pearl Jam frontman Vedder on Magical Mystery Tour.

“I would do the track and put guide vocals on it and Eddie really loved the version and said he wanted to keep my backing vocals in so my girlie harmonies are in the background,” he said.

“My 14-year-old self would have f ... ing died knowing that.”

Wakely and Johns worked together on the writer’s short film My Mind’s Own Melody in 2011.

The show’s creator said Johns is a “creative genius” and the pair enjoyed an unspoken understanding of what the music should be for Beat Bugs, even when the former Silverchair frontman wanted to indulge his more “far out” instincts.

He also praised the Australian rocker’s ability to lead the musicians and studio crew involved in the recordings.

“I genuinely think he’s a musical genius but separate from that, the thing that people don’t talk about Dan is that he is a really great leader and really instinctive about people,” Wakely said.

“Because he’s so fearless about the work, he lifts everyone around him.

“He is deeply ambitious in the artistic sense and the other perfect thing about him for this series is he does have a childlike nature and approach to work.

“He’s so playful and that really comes through probably more than it ever has in anything else he has done.”

Wakely is believed to have plans for a bold adaptation of Bob Dylan’s catalogue next on his slate while Johns hopes to finally complete his long-awaited music collaboration with Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele that has been nicknamed Steeley Dan for several years.

Johns said while they are determined to finish it sooner than later, his only promise is “it will be done by 2026”.

“We are both desperate to get it done and we have so many songs and now just honing in on the production,” he said.

“Me and Luke have been hanging out heaps; they are kind of like my family, so we talk about work and get inspired.”

Beat Bugs premieres on 7Two on Monday at 4pm and will also screen on Presto with the soundtrack is expected to be released in August.