Marissa Chavez (Official Bootleg)

Talked on the phone with my cool friend Marissa Chavez from Austin, TX, about her wild childhood, her outlaw family, dropping out of high school to sell weed, oogling around the American West trying to find the best heroin, getting sober, staying connected to the streets through photography , her handmade t-shirt label Official Bootleg, and so much more. Marissa is a magnetic personality and her kindness, generosity of spirit, and willingness to connect and share with others are center stage in this interview. The animals you hear in order of appearance: Marissa's cat Alice purring, my cat Growler screaming, my dog Rubi barking. There were some unexpected issues with the phone recording software, and so for a time at the beginning our conversation is slightly out of sync and it seems like we're talking over each other. I did my best to get rid of the worst of it, but try to bear with it, because it goes away eventually and this convo is too good to miss.