Snake River Conspiracy was formed in San Francisco in 1996 by Jason Slater, a former Third Eye Blind guitarist, and producer Eric Valentine, with Tobey Torres recruited as vocalist; the group signed with Interscope Records in 1998 after a two‑track demo, but Eric Valentine departed to focus on production. The band switched to Elektra and later Reprise Records, releasing the single‑EP Vulcan on 5 October 1999, which was named New Musical Express Single of the Week. Their debut album, Sonic Jihad, followed in summer 2000 on Reprise; the cover of "How Soon Is Now?" achieved a peak of Number 83 on the UK Singles Chart in 2001, marking the group’s first chart success in the United States. After poor sales of Sonic Jihad, the band left Reprise in 2002 and announced a second album that never materialised due to internal disputes and lineup changes–Bobby Hewitt and Tobey Torres were dismissed, replaced by Martina Axén, then later reinstated, and finally departed again in 2006, leading to the group’s dissolution. Jason Slater resumed work on the second album in 2012, but health issues and the death of Jason Slater on 9 December 2020 from liver failure halted progress; the project remained inactive thereafter.
