Ham Sandwich - "Ants": SXSW 2011 Showcasing Artist

Some rock bands fret too much about the successful fusion of commerce and creativity. Some rock bands think they can second-guess the music fan by blending strategies for world domination with mix-and-match, catch-all music. Ham Sandwich, however, instinctively react to rock music more than spending too much time thinking about it -- which is nowhere near as bad as it might sound -- and it is this that marks them out as one of the best Irish rock acts of recent years.

Ham Sandwich have been around and about in one very interesting shape or another since 2003, but it wasn't until the autumn of 2005 -- with the release of their debut single, 'Sad Songs' -- that they began to be known outside their home county of Meath. The band formed, says singer/guitarist Podge McNamee, due to founding member/bass player Johnny Moore's creative urge to be always one step ahead of the posse. Balancing ambition and risk is a tricky thing to get right, but with Moore's astute knack for understated, engaging craft and McNamee's liking for juggling quirk, strangeness and charm, stability reigned supreme. "I'd always had an urge to be in a band," says Podge, whose early ambitions lay in stand-up comedy, "and although up to that point I'd done nothing to show that I could be in a band, Johnny thought there was something about me that made him think I could be. I think he liked the fact that I could be anything at all."