VALIS is a hard rock band hailing from the Northwest fronted by none other than Screaming Trees bassman, Van Conner. Borrowing its name from the title of a Philip K. Dick novel, VALIS has been described as psychedelic space rock inspired by Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, and Motorhead.

VALIS formed in 1996 under casual circumstances in the basement of Mudhoney drummer, Dan Peters. That night, Dan, Van Conner (Screaming Trees), Patrick Conner (Kitty Kitty), and Kurt Danielson (TAD) created the beginnings of what would become VALIS. In 1998 VALIS released their first record, a split release with Kitty Kitty, on Frank Kozik's Man's Ruin Label.

Around this time Dan left VALIS to tour the world with Mudhoney. Former Screaming Trees/Solomon Grundy/Kitty Kitty Drummer Sean Hollister was elected the new drummer of VALIS.

Following the Man's Ruin release, VALIS played shows around the Northwest, sharing bills with the likes of Fu Manchu and the Queens of the Stone Age. As all great things must come to an end, Man's Ruin folded, and VALIS signed with Sweden's Lunasound Recordings and released VALIS' first full length recording, "Vast Active Living Intelligence System." Wanting to add to the atmospheric quality of VALIS, Van decided to bring in Wes Weresch, adding theramin, keys and an array of other sound-producing gadgets to the VALIS arsenal. Weresch, resident studio wizard of Uptone Recordings also assumed the role of co-producer for the "V.A.L.I.S." album.

Shortly before the release of "V.A.L.I.S." Kurt got married and moved to France. Again, Van looked to his old friends and co-conspirators to fill the void and Adrian Makins (Kitty Kitty, Solomon Grundy, Gardener)was called to step in on bass. VALIS continued to play a slew of shows around the Northwest, and the summer of 2003 saw VALIS' first west coast tour.

The summer of 2003 also saw the demise Lunasound and again VALIS was in search of a label. Fortunately, VALIS caught the eye of Detroit's Small Stone Records and signed a two record deal with the label from the motor city. With a new album, various tours of the USA and Europe and shows including featured showcases at CMJ and SXSW, 2005 was a good year for VALIS, a very good year.

Now working on a new album in a bunker below a small building in Seattle, WA. VALIS will bring to light the next mission.