MUMBAI: Pune based guitarist/singer-songwriter Amit Khadikar, aka AKoustic Soul, has bagged a nomination for his single, Home, in the Best Pop Song category at the prestigious Global VIMA Music Awards. This song has been selected out of 1500+ entries submitted from across 40 countries! 

An ambient acoustic number with a simple message - home is where your heart is, has resonated with listeners universally, and is currently airing on Songdew TV.

"Home is one of the first songs I composed when I was starting to learn the guitar, but the arrangement only took shape recently and found its expression as AKoustic Soul," said Amit. "VIMA gave artists the flexibility to simply submit tracks and let their team decide the category if it is deemed worthy of a nomination. For Home to get selected and also be nominated in a mainstream category like 'Best Pop Song' is a huge honour," he added.

Inspired by eclectic influences ranging from alt-rock, hard rock, Sufi, ambient sounds and more, this talented artist is also a part of several well-known acts in Pune, including Desi Quarter, Hourglass Inversion and a western musical choir called The Chamber Singers. He is currently working on new singles for AKoustic Soul and Hourglass Inversion and is extensively performing with Desi Quarter, which has steadily continued to gain momentum in the local circuit and beyond.

Recorded at Pune's Reverb Studio, Home is a warm track that brings together Kshitij Saxena (flute), Amit Godse (percussions), Rajtarangini Kumar (backing vocals), along with the Sound Engineer Joy Chanda (recording and mixing) and supported by Johnston D'Souza (mixing and mastering), in addition to Amit Khadikar himself. The music video took its form with the help of Siddharth Kulkarni.