Just a few days off of three consecutive nights performing in Reykjavik, Pavement’s Bob Nastanovich (who has become the band’s de facto spokesperson) is in equal parts an open book, self-deprecating to a fault, and pragmatic about the band’s place in history. Faced with the proposition that Pavement was the consummate ’90s band, Nastanovich deflects. “I mean, I guess so. That wasn’t our design, but as it turned out the band began as a project in 1989 and we participated in 118 of 120 months of the decade without much on either side,” he says.
Before Pavement was Pavement, Nastanovich, band leader Stephen Malkmus, and David Berman (Silver Jews, Purple Mountains) met as students at the University of Virginia. Particularly through a love of the day’s music, with all three having their own radio show at UVA’s WTJU. “Stephen and David actually met before I did. They met because they carpooled to see The Cure in the fall of ’85. We were all at the concert, but I went by myself. I knew David a little bit because of his stature. He was 6'4” and his sidekick, Rob Chamberlain, was 6'5". They were
