Alexis geeks out with her “lil’ baby cousin” Mat Santos, the bassist for the indie band Ra Ra Riot. The band just finished touring with Third Eye Blind and are about to embark on a global tour to promote their new album, Superbloom. They talk about music, sports, family, life, death, and what it’s like to throw up backstage at Conan O’Brien. They also discuss “the craziest, most awful, and unfathomable nightmare” he’s ever experienced and how it still influences him to this day. 

Topic & Key Ideas

• Which one of the band members is a “baller nerd”
• What it’s like to be the opening band for your favorite childhood band
• Why we beg anyone who knows Busy Phillips to have the band on her talk show Busy Tonight (“Anyone? Anyone?”)
• Why I threatened to share stories about changing his diapers with random girls at South by Southwest
• Why I describe myself as “one of those frozen goats” and how that relates to “fun with failure”
• Why we end up swearing (a lot) any time we talk about sports
• How the tragic passing of John (his good friend and the original drummer) was “the craziest, most awful, and unfathomable nightmare” he’s ever experienced
• What he misses most about John, and how John is still one of the most influential people in his life to this day
• Why their new album Superbloom is different than anything they’ve ever done before
• Why he’s glad they didn’t have a “mountain of success” early on in their career
• Why his biggest fear is wasting time

Failure Quote: “Failing is great because it’s the best learning experience you can have… Every failure and every disappointment we’ve ever had in the band has only fueled the fire a little bit more. Failure is a subverted success.”

Join the Conversation: 

Twitter: @funfailpodcast

Twitter: @RaRaRiot

Website: https://rarariot.com

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