Ham Sandwich is an Irish indie rock band from Kells, County Meath. The band consists of Podge McNamee on vocals and guitar, Niamh Farrell on vocals, Johnny on bass guitar, Darcy on guitar and piano, a...

Ham Sandwich is an Irish indie rock band from Kells, County Meath. The band consists of Podge McNamee on vocals and guitar, Niamh Farrell on vocals, Johnny on bass guitar, Darcy on guitar and piano, and Ollie Murphy on drums. The band has released four singles, an EP, before releasing their debut album, Carry the Meek, on February 15, 2008. That same day they won the Meteors Hope for 2008 Award. The band is currently based in Dublin, Ireland. In December 2007 the Sunday Times pegged Ham Sandwich as "Ones to Watch" for 2008.

Johnny and Podge were childhood friends, and first announced the formation of the band on Good Friday, 2003. 'Martin' the original lead guitarist in the band departed after just 6 months citing musical differences in the band, he was replaced by 'Darcy'. Johnny and Darcy met at St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan; other notable pupils include Tommy Tiernan, Dylan Moran, Hector Ó hEochagáin. Niamh Farrell joined the band in Dublin after a solo stint in Glasgow, Scotland. U2 frontman Bono encouraged the group to change the peculiar name upon meeting drummer Ollie Murphy in 2006, but conceded that U2 faced similar criticism about their name before their success. Niamh has commented, "it’s a bit of a blessing I guess, no-one ever forgets the name and it makes us work harder."

The band have been televised on The Late Late Show in February, the Dustin once a week show in September as well as the The Podge and Rodge Show's halloween special on October 30, 2007 during the Rock 'n Roulette feature.

The majority of songs on Carry The Meek were written by Moore while he was working nights at St. Patrick's Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin which was founded from the legacy of Jonathan Swift. As a matter of coincidence some of Carry the Meek was recorded at a house where Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels.

Following the release of their third single, the band, with the assistance of producer Karl Odlum of The Frames, began recording in the neo classical estate of Headfort House. The band was awarded the Meteors Hope for 2008 Award in February 2008. The award was voted on by listeners of RTÉ 2fm, who chose Ham Sandwich over five other acts. Ham Sandwich are managed by the legendary Derek Nally. On June 8, 2008, Niamh gave birth to a boy, Oscar Farrell. Shortly afterward, on June 28, 2008, the band performed at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival and Electric Picnic festival.

Ham Sandwich released their first single, "Sad Songs", in early August 2005. They have followed it with singles "St. Christopher" in January 2006, Words,and "click...click...BOOM" on February 16, 2007.

Ham Sandwich's debut full length album Carry The Meek was released on February 15, 2008 on Route 109 Records (Route 109 is the bus route operated by Bus Eireann from Dublin to Kells). The band elicited fan art to complete the CD release. Ham Sandwich' debut album Carry the Meek debuted in the Irish album chart at number 23. The band had previously released a debut EP. The album was produced by Karl Odlum (The Frames, The Mary Janes, Gemma Hayes, David Kitt, Kila) in Heafort House, Kells and Cross, Mullagh, Co. Cavan. It was mastered by Fred Kevorkian (The National, The White Stripes, Ryan Adams, The Walkmen, Sonic Youth, Regina Spektor, Debbie Harry).

The album received reviews from the Irish Independent - Four Stars, Irish Times - Three Stars, Hot Press 8/10, Cluas.com, and RTE. Currently working on a follow up album.