KATIE NASTANOVICH

Mother of Bob (Pavement, Silver Jews)

He still hasn't grown up! (laughs) He's just like his father! He's always been really interested in sports. He was a ranked tennis player, #1 on his high school team... basketball, cross country. He was a government major in college so we thought he might go into politics. We never thought he'd be in a rock band. He never had a real intense interest in popular music. He had more of an interest in writing.

Was he pretty well-behaved?

Very well-behaved. He was the vice president of his class and was pretty outstanding.

Any particular idiosyncrasies?

When he gets interested in one thing, he really pursues it to the exclusion of other things. For example, he's really interested in horse racing right now. He's very focused.

Did he have any nicknames?

Bobby. And Nasty. Those are the ones that I know.

What did you think when you first heard Pavement?

I really liked Slanted and Enchanted when it came out. It's the kind of music you have to listen a few times before you can appreciate it. The more you listen to it, the better it sounds.

What do you think of their most recent...

Wowee Zowee? I haven't really listened to it that much. I've heard most of it once. His father has played a couple of the songs for me, but I'm really not that familiar with that one. I'm more familiar with Slanted and Crooked Rain.

Do you go to their shows?

Yeah, when they're nearby. I've been to about five or six. It's really amazing to see people singing their songs. We were at Maxwell's right after Slanted and Enchanted came out and we were really surprised to see like 200 people singing along with them.

What about his other musical projects? Like Silver Jews?

Oh, yeah, they've had a lot of fun with that. We've known David a long time. David's a good friend of Bobby's so we were excited for them about Silver Jews. There was no pressure when they were doing that. I think they were just sorta having fun. And I think David is a very talented writer so I'm glad for him to have a chance to get a little exposure.

Is there something Pavement fans should know about Bob that they might not know otherwise?

Well, he's a really good person. He has a good heart, and good morals and he's a pretty nice guy.

He was probably raised right!

Yeah, he has really great parents!

(Just as we're hanging up, Bob's father pipes up to let us know that "Fillmore Jive" is the greatest Pavement song ever and that it will endure forever, unlike "Range Life.")