Editing Screaming Trees (section)

=== 1984–1989: Formation and early releases ===
The Conner brothers formed Screaming Trees with [[Mark Lanegan]] and [[Mark Pickerel]] in 1984 in [[Ellensburg, Washington]], a small town a little over 100 miles from [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]].<ref name="Allmusic bio">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|title=Screaming Trees Biography, Songs, & Albums|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/screaming-trees-mn0000312353/biography|access-date=June 24, 2008|publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/22/mark-lanegan-screaming-trees-queens-of-the-stone-age-has-died|title=Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age has died|website=Thefader.com|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> The band was drawn together in high school by an interest in punk, garage, and classic rock.

The band rehearsed at the Conner family's video rental store and recorded their demo tape ''[[Other Worlds (Screaming Trees album)|Other Worlds]]'' in the summer of 1985 with [[Steve Fisk]] at Creative Fire recording studio in Ellensburg. It was initially distributed by the independent label [[K Records]]. ''Other Worlds'' then got a wider release through the independent label, Velvetone Records (also based out of Ellensburg).<ref name="Allmusic bio" /> In 1986, they released their debut full-length album, ''[[Clairvoyance (album)|Clairvoyance]]'', also on the Velvetone label.<ref name="Allmusic bio" /> Musically, the album combined [[psychedelic rock]] and [[hard rock]] with the band's aforementioned influences.<ref name="Allmusic bio" /> With Fisk's help, the LP caught the attention of [[Greg Ginn]], and the band were signed to [[SST Records]].

In 1987, the band released their second LP, and their first for SST, ''[[Even If and Especially When]]''.<ref name="Allmusic bio" /> After the release of the album in 1987, the band began working the American indie circuit, playing shows across the US with other SST bands such as [[Firehose (band)|Firehose]] and [[Meat Puppets]].<ref name="Allmusic bio" /> In early 1988, Screaming Trees collaborated with the [[indie pop]] band [[Beat Happening]] on the [[extended play|EP]] ''[[Beat Happening/Screaming Trees]]''. Screaming Trees' next album, ''[[Invisible Lantern]]'', was released later on in 1988. SST also decided to re-release ''Other Worlds'' that same year. Screaming Trees then released the album ''[[Buzz Factory]]'' in 1989. While attempting to tour behind ''Buzz Factory'', SST had difficulties in releasing the album. By the tour's conclusion, the band became frustrated and departed from the label.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin C.|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro|title=The Great Rock Discography|publisher=Mojo Books|year=2000|isbn=1-84195-017-3|edition=5th|location=Edinburgh|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro/page/852/mode/2up 852–853]|author-link=Martin C. Strong|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Towards the end of 1989, Screaming Trees briefly became a part of the roster for the prominent independent label [[Sub Pop]]. The label released the band's EP ''[[Change Has Come]]'' in December 1989. Half of it was produced by Fisk and the other half was produced by [[Jack Endino]]. Drummer Pickerel later described the EP, in his own opinion, as "our best recorded moment".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTg4whS9ClUC&dq=%22change+has+come%22+ep+recorded&pg=PT426|title=Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music|isbn=9781554903474|last1=Prato|first1=Greg|date=December 15, 2010 |publisher=ECW Press |access-date=January 3, 2023}}</ref>