“Many youngsters in the program often connect the blues to the genres they already listen to such as rap, pop and rock music. Blues is the root of all of those genres, and because of that, the younger generations are increasingly interested in learning blues music. So, no. I am not an exception now, although I did feel that way for many years growing up.”

Amin & Lachlan: Echos of Golden Blues Era

Amin & Lachlan are a rising acoustic blues duo from Adelaide, South Australia, quickly making a name for themselves in the contemporary roots music scene. The duo consists of Amin Slee, who delivers soulful vocals while handling the harmonica and slide guitar, and Lachlan Sullivan, who provides the rhythmic and melodic backbone on acoustic guitar and stomp box. Their musical journey began through the Adelaide Roots & Blues Youth in Blues program, an initiative that helped them hone their craft and connect with the rich traditions of the genre. Together, they channel an authentic, raw energy that honors the past while feeling entirely fresh. Their signature sound blends Delta, Chicago, and Jump Blues with distinct elements of folk and swing. Drawing inspiration from the golden eras of blues, their repertoire spans tracks from the 1920s through the 1970s, showcasing a deep respect for acoustic music history.

(Amin & Lachlan / Photo by Marnie Sullivan)

The duo achieved a massive career milestone by winning the prestigious 2026 Memphis Blues Challenge, earning them the honor of representing the Adelaide Blues & Roots Association at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. Beyond the studio, Amin & Lachlan are an active touring act, regularly playing major Australian events like the Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival and releasing acclaimed projects such as their “Live at Barossa South Studios” EP (2026) and the single No Favourites.

Interview by Michael Limnios

How did your collaboration first come about? You both met through ARBA’s "Youth in Blues" program. How did you realize right from the start that you had a strong musical connection?

Amin: It was all a happy coincidence to be honest. It was late 2022 in the Adelaide Roots and Blues Association Youth in Blues Program, and the students in the program were split into ensembles to practice for the showcase at the end of the program. A couple days before the showcase, the guitarist couldn't make it for the showcase for some reason. One of the program's mentors Erica Graff contacted Lachlan and he became a substitute guitarist. After a few gigs as a band, our ensemble eventually broke up, leaving only Lachlan and I. The fact that we are a duo makes it very easy for us to work with each other and to find commonalities with our musical interests.

Why did you choose the blues? As two 20-year-old musicians, what is it that draws you so strongly to the traditional sound of past decades, like that of Muddy Waters and Blind Willie McTell?

Lachlan: For me personally, I chose to play the blues because of its improvisational aspects and the language that guitarists use when comping or playing solos. I love the way that the classic blues guitarists express themselves through their instruments and I hope to discover my own unique sound into the future as I continue playing this style. The early genres of the blues are particularly inspirational to Amin and I because of their usually stripped back nature and deep storytelling. This sound provides us a great foundation to build our music from and attempt to bring the genre into new places while staying rooted in tradition.

Your live performances are known for incredible intensity and rhythm, even though it is just the two of you on stage. How do you manage to fill the room and energize the crowd without a bass and full drums?

Amin: First of all, I try my best to engage the audiences I play to, either by encouraging them to clap along, or by making them laugh with moments of impromptu humour. To make our set more energised, we transitioned from using acoustic to using electric guitars and bullet harmonica mics when playing on stage in front of a decent crowd. We also still play acoustically for smaller shows and in those we often try to have a strong emphasis on improvisation whether that be through reharmonising chord changes, switching up the feel of certain sections or spontaneously changing the arrangements. We often don't play a song the same way twice when we're performing. Lachlan also uses a stompbox as a makeshift drum to keep the beat.

“I love the way that the classic blues guitarists express themselves through their instruments and I hope to discover my own unique sound into the future as I continue playing this style. The early genres of the blues are particularly inspirational to Amin and I because of their usually stripped back nature and deep storytelling.” (Amin & Lachlan / Photo by Marnie Sullivan)

Due to your young age, have you ever faced skepticism from older blues musicians or audiences, and how did you manage to win their respect?

Lachlan: I began playing in bands at the age of 12, so naturally some musicians questioned my abilities in those early days. There were times at blues jam nights where certain people wouldn't want to play on stage with me because they assumed that I wouldn't be able to keep up with them. Despite this, I kept returning to these jams where the hosts were always supportive and gave me ample opportunities to develop my musicianship. After a while of showing up and putting in my best effort, people began to respect me as a player and I got the chance to co-host one of these jams a couple times when the one of the usual hosts couldn't make it.

Amin, you play the harmonica and resonator guitar, while Lachlan, you keep the rhythm with the stomp box and acoustic or electric guitar. How challenging is it to stay perfectly synchronized when improvising live?

Amin: I firmly believe that effective improvisations on harmonica should be relatively simple. Time is your friend, and some of the best harmonica players I've heard such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Paul Butterfield and Steve Weston effectively space out their solos. Their solos aren't a large muddle of notes, rather, each set of notes they play at any given time is simplistic and more importantly, intentional. If you stick to that formula, you'll be able to improvise very well. Lachlan can go along, playing rhythm guitar just as in any other part of the song. When Lachlan is soloing, I comp with one to three single notes every 2 or so bars of a 12 bar blues (as an example).

The blues is a genre full of storytelling, pain, and redemption. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing the lyrics for your original tracks, like "No Favourites"?

Lachlan: When Amin and I co-write our songs, we're always trying to respect the traditions of classic and early blues music while weaving in our own personal experiences from the modern age. Just as the greats of old were telling the stories of their lives through the blues, we're trying to do the same but this takes on a different nature due to how the world has changed. "No Favourites" was written about some of the people that we've met who have made us feel uncomfortable and we wanted to share some of our frustrations about that. We also hope for the song to serve as a reminder to our audiences to treat everyone with the respect and kindness that they'd wish to be shown.

How do you divide the roles when writing your own tracks? On your EP, you have original songs like "Bendigo Town". What is your creative process like?

Amin: Our songwriting process is a collaborative effort, although the basic ideas of what the songs sound like as well as the first drafts of lyrics come from me. We sit down together, we review our ideas and add onto them if need be. This process is to make our songs unique to ourselves as a duo. We both share the need to advance blues music into the new age by incorporating elements of rock, country, folk and indie genres into the blues, turning it into a "blues melting pot."

(Amin & Lachlan - The duo consists of Amin Slee, who delivers soulful vocals while handling the harmonica and slide guitar, and Lachlan Sullivan, who provides the rhythmic and melodic backbone on acoustic guitar and stomp box / Photo by Marnie Sullivan)

Your debut EP was recorded live (Live at Barossa South Studios). Why did you choose to introduce yourselves discographically with a live recording instead of a classic studio production?

Lachlan: We felt that recording our EP live with acoustic instruments would serve to capture the most accurate representation of how we perform at our live shows. Our good friend Nigel Bourn who plays in another fantastic blues band called The Honey Badgers, produced the whole EP in his shed that he has turned into a recording studio. Each song was done in just a few takes with two microphones blended in with the DI signals from our guitars and no overdubs. This live-in-studio format also gave us the privilege of being able to record live videos for all 6 tracks which we wouldn't have been able to do, had we recorded a full studio EP with overdubs.

How do you see the blues scene in Australia today? Is there room and interest from the younger generation for this genre, or do you feel like an exception?

Amin: As products of the Adelaide Roots and Blues Association's Youth in Blues program, we obviously want to promote blues music to people our age and younger. Growing up amongst Adelaide's blues scene since the Adelaide Roots and Blues Association's inception in 2013, blues was commonly written off as "old folks' music". This was until 2018 when the Youth in Blues program introduced many keen youngsters like me into playing the blues, although I have been listening to blues music since I was seven. Many youngsters in the program often connect the blues to the genres they already listen to such as rap, pop and rock music. Blues is the root of all of those genres, and because of that, the younger generations are increasingly interested in learning blues music. So, no. I am not an exception now, although I did feel that way for many years growing up.

What is your biggest dream for the future? If you could share the stage with any artist (living or passed) or play at any specific venue in the world, who or where would that be?

Lachlan: I'm very fortunate to have been able to meet and share the stage with some fantastic performers like Nathan Cavaleri, Mahalia Barnes and Nick Charles who's shows have inspired both Amin and I greatly with the impact that we want to have on the world through our music. That being said, the musician that I would love to perform with the most would have to be Bob Dylan. His music constantly pushes me to take new approaches when it comes to our lyricism, sound and style that I may not have considered before diving into his discography.

Amin & Lachlan | bandcamp

(Amin & Lachlan / Photo by Marnie Sullivan)