The last time System and Station played in Tucson, it was anything but standing-room only. According to band member RFK Heise’s memory, there were about 20 people in the crowd.

But when the band plays for the first time at the 14th annual Club Crawl on Saturday, it will be different. The crowd will be bigger, rowdier and drunker.

System and Station started in 1998 out of Boise, Idaho, then moved to Chicago and is now settled in Portland, Ore. Heise says Portland has the best music scene in the country right now.

“”The big thing here is indie rock,”” Heise said. “”It’s pretty happening here.”” Heise, who sings and plays keyboard and guitar, is the only original member left in the band.

The band’s latest album, Here is Now, came out in September and has had the most commercial success of all of the five albums the band has done.

“”We’ve just refined it to where … I think it’s a lot tighter and the point comes across,”” Heise said. “”It’s just really melodic songs that are really dynamic. We go from quiet to loud, but we still have a lot of pop sensibilities. (We’ve) gotten reference to Built to Spill and reference to some classic rock bands like (Led) Zeppelin.””

The band is always looking to gain more fans but wants to do it the old-fashioned way – by touring and playing.

“”We have a fairly strong fan base. We definitely have our hardcore fans who really love the band,”” Heise said. “”It’s still always building. We’ve done over 18 national tours. We’ve played every nook and cranny of the country.””

One thing the band does not want to do though is sell their souls to The Man to get big.

“”How we do it is, we want to pay the mortgage – that’s nice,”” Heise said. “”As far as mainstream goes, when opportunities arrive in terms of licensing, it seems most bands are getting big off of car commercials, as opposed to just touring and doing what bands have always done. So the point is, we don’t want to be huge, but we’d like to pay the mortage off of it. We haven’t had to sacrifice any kind of integrity.””