Valis

After the Screaming Trees wrapped their studio work with the 1996 album Dust, bassist Van Conner launched Valis, a loud, spaced-out psychedelic metal outfit in which he handled lead vocals and guitar. The group took its name from a Philip K. Dick novel. Once it became evident that the Trees’ hiatus would likely prove permanent, Conner shifted his primary focus to this earlier side project. The remaining members brought equally strong Seattle connections: Van’s brother, guitarist Patrick Conner, had previously played in Kitty Kitty; bassist Kurt Danielson had belonged to Tad; and drummer Dan Peters had performed with the Fastbacks, Love Battery, and maintained his main commitment to Mudhoney. The band began playing shows across the Northwest in 1997 and, the following year, issued a split EP with Kitty Kitty on the Man’s Ruin label. Peters soon returned to Mudhoney, leaving Sean Hollister, formerly of Kitty Kitty, to take over on drums. As the musicians turned their attention elsewhere, Valis remained dormant for a stretch before resuming activity in 2001, when keyboard and guitar-synth player Wes Weresch joined and the group signed with the Swedish imprint Luna Sound. Their first widely available album, Vast Active Living Intelligence System, arrived in 2002, by which time Adrian Makins had replaced Danielson on bass. Van Conner died of pneumonia on January 17, 2023, at the age of 55.