Big Fil was a Christian rock

Christian rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

 band formed by Rob Bell

Rob Bell

Robert Holmes "Rob" Bell Jr. is an American author and pastor. He is the founder of Mars Hill Bible Church located in Grandville, Michigan and is also the featured speaker in a series of spiritual short films called NOOMA.-Education and ministry:Bell is the son of Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was...

 in 1995 in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The band performed and toured for several years at Christian schools and universities, with Rob Bell speaking before or after the performance. Big Fil would claim that the style of their music was "Northern Gospel" however later on Rob Bell described his involvement with Big Fil as an involvement with a punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band.

The band

While the exact membership of the band is not known in detail in the beginning, the band was quite dynamic in nature and often involved outsiders sitting in or filling in with various instrument and in various positions.

Their self-titled debut arrived in 1996, with the following lineup:

• Matt Walker - bass, vocal on "Fifteen," 2nd verse guitar on "Scum"
• James Littel - drums, backing vocals
• Rob Bell
  Rob Bell
  Robert Holmes "Rob" Bell Jr. is an American author and pastor. He is the founder of Mars Hill Bible Church located in Grandville, Michigan and is also the featured speaker in a series of spiritual short films called NOOMA.-Education and ministry:Bell is the son of Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was...
  
  - vocals, guitar

As of 1997, the cover of Via De La Shekel described the band as being composed of:

• Todd Hoek - Drums, percussion
• Matt Walker - Bass, backing vocals, guitar, hair dryer, turntables
• Rob Bell - Vocals, guitar, harmonica, pianissimo

Additional folks:

• Bob Buck - Guitar on "I Am A Worm"
• David Strangebye Houk - organ on "In The Garden, Part 2"

Discography

• Big Fil (1995)
  • Scum Of The World
  • Sitting With Elvis
  • I'm Not Your Grandpa
  • Fifteen
  • Clean
  • Hi! I'm Your Nice friend
  • Swing Me Over Hell On A cornstalk
• Via De La Shekel (1997, Produced by David Strangebye Houk)
  • If Jesus Came back today
  • Heretic
  • Little Fingers, Little Toes
  • Poser
  • Remember My Dust
  • Dangerous Man
  • Chopping My Goliath
  • Waiting for My Ram
  • Northern Gospel
  • Ray
  • In The Garden, Part 2
  • I Am A Worm
  • Satan's Pants Are On Fire
  • A Tree For Me