system and station

System and Station formed in 1998 when Ryan FK Heise had some songs he wanted to record and Dave Wall and Mike Rundle wanted to be a part of. With a mutual desire to leave their hometown of Boise, ID they decided to solidify the band and make a move across the country. Moving their base of operations to Madison, WI for the next three years, the plan was to tour and tour they did. They looped the country several times over, playing from coast to coast.

In April of 1999 the first ep "Prospects Of Living Daily" was released on Mafia Money records. Sadly the label folded three months later leaving System and Station an album without any promotion so they toured as much as they could, selling records at shows and by word of mouth. Touring was consecutive through the Midwest and east coast for the next sixth months including a slot at the 1999 CMJ music festival with North Of America and 7 Zuma 7.

In Winter of 2000 Smart studios made an amazing offer to record and without a label they went in and laid down eleven songs in two days. Engineered by Mark Haines (Rainer Maria, Poster Children, Archers of Loaf, Son Volt) the album turned out to be a great achievement showing how far RFK's song writing abilities had matured.

The album was finally released on Crustacean records out of Milwaukee, WI in January of 2001 titled "Pictures found in Paragraphs". Between the time of the records release System and Station toured throughout the US picking up Southern records as a distributor. They played and toured with bands like Built to Spill, The Go, Shiner, Caustic Resin, The Delusions, Canyon, Alex Chilton, The Up On In, Oxes, Sarge, Meat Puppets, Marky Ramone (no shit) and lots of others. They showcased for 2000 CMJ as well as the Kansas City Spirit festival and Mardi Gras 2001.

With a desire to return to the Northwest to focus on west coast touring as well as be near their families System and Station relocated yet again to Portland, OR. Touring slowed with the move and work began on a new record consisting of compilation tracks 7" singles and three new songs. The record was released in November of 2001 and titled "Compiling the #7".

From the time of the release in November Dave Wall started to show desires of ending his place in the band as it was. He wanted to have a life with a little more stability and he wanted to lay low for a while, moving back to Boise, ID. Due to financial and legal problems Mike Rundle was going to move back to Boise as well. On March 6th of 2002 System and Station set off on a seven week tour with Chicago's Land of the El Caminos that covered the entire nation, this would be the last tour with Dave Wall and Mike Rundle as a part of System and Station.

On April 23rd of 2002 RFK Heise left Boise, ID where System and Station had first started and now was moving on to see what was next. Returning to Portland, Palmer Cloud formerly of Boise, ID and the bands Downshift Now and Racing Vent became the second guitar player and fourth member of System and Station. Josh Vasby and Bryan Fairfeild of the band rm 101 became the new rhythm section.

With the songwriting and voice of RFK as the trademark of System and Station and the new shot of life and energy the results are magnificent. Palmer adds a whole new beauty and texture to the songs taking them to new levels. Bryan Fairfeild is a monster on the drumset conquering every hit with thoughtful and musical approach. Josh Vasby has an amazing sense of melody and brains that he puts into his bass playing. The result is pure energy that has been tuned in and taken to sonically epic proportions.

System and Station is the musical idea of RFK Heise and has changed and developed with help and hard work from others that want to be a part of it. Starting in 1998 to the present there have been many twists and turns and starts and stops, just like the songs, but with only one focus; beautiful, truthful, passionate songs that mean something. System and Station has found its form. Thanks for reading ........and on it goes.