Rose had fronted several notable Richmond, Virginia hardcore bands in the mid to late 80s including Screaming For Change!, What If! and Intact. All of which were straight edge outfits that were basically newer incarnations of the previous with revolving member changes. Fed Up! was the first serious effort Rose had made as a guitarist instead of providing vocals in a group. The band began as an underground animal rights outreach project with all the original members being vegetarians. At the time, the Richmond straight edge scene had become a bastion of enthusiasm for vegetarianism and animal rights issues and the new project, Fed Up! led the charge. Holzman was only 15 years old when he became friends with Rose and turned 16 just after joining Fed Up!. The two became close friends and worked tirelessly on the new project.
