WHEN Blind Bistro drummer Ethan Fraser first listened to the master of their new single Pass The Time he was overcome with emotion.
"I had to sit back for a couple of minutes and reflect on it all," Fraser said. "I think the other boys had a similar reaction.
"It's a mixed emotion of pride and also it feels like it means that once it's released we can move on from this part of our life."
The reason for Fraser's mixed emotions is that his friend and Blind Bistro frontman John McKenzie is unable to enjoy the Newcastle indie band's achievement.
McKenzie died unexpectedly last October from a cardiac arrest. He was 21.
Blind Bistro, who also features guitarist Blake Lewis and bassist Luke McGuiness, had only played five shows and released a debut single Holiday when the band was halted by last year's COVID lockdown and then McKenzie's death.
After initially being unsure of the band's future, Blind Bistro made the decision to continue with Lewis taking on the lead vocals.
"We deliberated on if we wanted to keep going or wither away, but we thought we'd push on for John," Fraser said. "That would be what he wanted us to do."
In April Blind Bistro made their live debut as a three-piece at The Gal.
But before looking to the future, Blind Bistro wanted to pay respect to the past, and their friendship with McKenzie. In early 2021 the band recorded a demo of a song called Pass The Time, which featured lyrics and a melody written by McKenzie.
"For a demo version we thought they were really good and then we had booked a studio to record the song in September and that got pushed back due to COVID and then he passed away," Fraser said.
"We went into the studio and recorded all the instrumentation ourselves and we were able to find the vocal stems from that demo session.
"Mitta Norath from Tommirock Studios was able to retrieve them, polish them and changed a few of the discrepancies with the notes and was able to make it sound like John was singing in the studio, which we thought was incredible.
"That's how it turned from a bedroom recording into a massive, massive song."
Pass The Time sparkles with the melodic indie influences of Spacey Jane and talks of the uplifting journey in overcoming mental health concerns.
Fraser said Blind Bistro plan to release an EP in 2023, which will feature songs written with and without McKenzie.
"We've gone off the melody of songs he'd been singing at practice and then added our own lyrics to it," he said. "Those ones we'll be releasing.
"Also we've written a whole lot as the three of us, but we've taken a lot from John's songwriting because he taught us a lot about it and we write in a similar style to him.
"Some of the songs we're writing are with him in mind as well."
Blind Bistro will release Pass The Time on July 1, followed by a launch show at the Lass O'Gowrie Hotel on July 8.
