The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by the Spanish government (in Spanish conejo means "rabbit", and refers to the rabbits common to the region, specifically the Desert Cottontail and Brush Rabbit species). It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area.

The area is bordered by the San Fernando Valley and the city of Los Angeles to the east, Simi Hills to the north, Las Posas Hills and the Santa Rosa Valley to the northwest, Conejo Mountain (also known as Conejo Hills) and Oxnard Plain to the west, and the Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu to the south, the Westside, and Pacific Ocean beyond it. The valley is located in the Santa Monica Mountains on an elevated area.

Many high-tech companies, particularly those in biotechnology, including Amgen, Baxter, General Dynamics Corporation, and Rockwell International are prevalent in the area. It also includes many other tech corporations, especially dot com companies and telecommunications like Verizon and Verizon Wireless. It also is home to many healthcare and other various companies like WellPoint, J.D. Power and Associates, Volkswagen, Audi, THQ, and cosmetics leader Jafra Cosmetics. Although the region is predominantly white with a large Hispanic minority, there is a small, but growing, Asian minority in the region.

Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.

Ward's solo debut, Duet for Guitars #2, was released by Howe Gelb on his Ow Om record label. Ward's 2001 album, End of Amnesia, was put out by Future Farmer Records. A collection of live recordings, Live Music & The Voice of Strangers, was a self-released disc that was sold at his shows in 2001. His subsequent albums have been released on Merge Records.

He has guested on recordings by Cat Power, Neko Case, Beth Orton (with whom he co-wrote the title track to her album Comfort of Strangers), The Court & Spark, Bright Eyes (with whom he toured on the 2004 Vote for Change tour with R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen), Jenny Lewis (whose debut solo album Rabbit Fur Coat he co-produced), and My Morning Jacket.

In 2004, Ward played guitar for Bright Eyes on a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. During the performance, Bright Eyes' singer Conor Oberst yelled out "M. Ward for President!" This prompted Newsweek to run an article on Ward and his next album Transistor Radio.^{[citation needed]} Also in 2004, Ward had his song Transfiguration #1 featured in Chris Malloy's surf documentary "A Brokedown Melody."