The band started as a youth crew inspired straight edge group in the Indianapolis, Indiana suburb of Carmel around singer Steve Duginske and bass player Curtis Mead, along with Clay Snyder. A mutual friend introduced the trio to young drummer Charlie Walker, and not long afterward, the quartet recorded their first demo and began playing shows. The addition of guitarist Adam Rubenstein from another local band, Decrepit, shifted them musically a bit and then new singer Dave Moore completed the group. The band played regularly with another local act, Hardball, and their Louisville, Kentucky friends Endpoint and started to build a following. Split Lip's second demo, entitled "A New Beginning" - a reference to the addition of Rubenstein and Moore, was still very youth crew oriented and went as far as to include a song about their local crew - but also dabbled in politics, and began to show the future direction of personal emotion-filled lyrics that the band would come to be known for. This demo attracted the attention of Pennsylvania-based Smorgasbord Records, and the band was invited to contribute a song for the "Voice of the Voiceless" animal-rights compilation, which also included Endpoint, as well as Youth of Today and Majority of One.