Ham Sandwich (band)

Ham Sandwich
Ham Sandwich at Mitchelstown Indie Pendence Festival 2007
Background information
Origin	Kells, Ireland
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2003 (2003)–present
Labels	Route 109A records
Website	Official
Members	Podge McNamee Niamh Farrell Brian Darcy David McEnroe Ollie Murphy
Past members	John Moore

Ham Sandwich (stylized as HamsandwicH) are an Irish indie rock band from Kells, County Meath.

The band originally consisted of Niamh Farrell (vocals), Podge McNamee (vocals and guitar), Brian Darcy (guitar and piano), John Moore (bass guitar) and Ollie Murphy (drums). On 12 April 2010, Moore announced he was leaving the group. The band subsequently hired David McEnroe as his replacement.

To date, the band have released three studio albums: Carry the Meek (2008), White Fox (2010) and Stories from the Surface (2015).

Ham Sandwich was formed by John Moore, Podge McNamee and Niamh Farrell at a crucifixion party on Good Friday 2003, initially with Moore as guitarist and McNamee and Farrell as vocalists. Moore and McNamee had been friends since childhood, growing up in Kells, County Meath, and Farrell had befriended McNamee upon her recent return to Ireland after spending several years in Scotland. Brian Darcy, who McNamee had known from school, was recruited as a guitarist and Ollie Murphy joined soon after as the group's drummer. Moore suggested the band's name at an early rehearsal session, initially as a joke, before it was officially adopted by the band. The band initially faced much criticism for their unusual name, most notably by U2 frontman Bono, but Farrell has defended the choice to keep the name, stating: "I suppose we were a bit stubborn at first and then I think it got so far that we couldn't change it because then we would have been known as 'so-and-so, formerly known as 'Ham Sandwich' and there's nothing worse than having to put that on a poster. But people have started warming too it."

The band spent the next year writing and rehearsing songs, with Moore as their primary songwriter, before giving their first live performance in their home town of Kells. They released their debut single, "Sad Songs", in August 2005. Rather than seeking a record label contract, the band published the single on their own independent label, Route 109A Records, named for the bus route between Kells and Dublin. The decision to release their first single independently, rather than seek a major record label deal, came from a desire to work and develop at their own pace, as well as to retain control over their own music. All of the band's subsequent releases have been on their own label. The band continued to tour around Ireland throughout 2006, releasing two further singles, "St. Christopher" on 20 February and "Words" on 19 September.