Frank Klunhaar: "I started my company Gracious Grooves in 1997 and initiated various international CD projects with talented artists.
One of my first and most interesting assignments as a consultant was to set up pilot projects for the introduction of online music distribution in Holland on behalf of the Dutch shareholders of MODE, an international consortium that included Telenor Venture from Norway and Spanish copyright society SGAE.
As a result of a job well done, I was asked to become Managing Director of Muziek Netwerk Nederland and to rebuild the business plan and company structure and to oversee the construction of the first major national internet platform for the music world with shareholders such as KPN-daughter and internet provider Planet Internet.
The unique platform received a lot of national media publicity and professional interest from it's launch in september 1998 but it's business model proved to be far ahead of it's time as it was solely based on paid subscriptions to the content of the shareholders databases.
As a much wiser man regarding the exploitation possibilities and impossibilities of the exploitation of music- and editorial content on the internet I joined interactive marketeers Bookmark as and became responsible for re-shaping their content and multichannel concepts unit.
More recently I was also invited as an independent consultant for artist development, strategic music- and internet related projects and as guest lecturer for universities".

"Based on my musical and productional skills, network and repertoire knowhow I was asked to join EMI Music Publishing Benelux in 1987 to become General Manager of their international and national creative and commercial affairs.
I revitalised the Brussels office and put the Dutch office in Hilversum further on the map within the international music business.
In that period we enjoyed worldwide successes with Benelux artists such as Soulsister, Won Ton Ton, Technotronic, BB Queen and Selena.
I initiated and signed various lucrative international deals for the company with new and well known artists, composers and catalogues and worked closely together with the head offices in London and New York.
In this period I travelled a lot, met some of the most famous artists, lawyers and managers of the world and learned a lot about the interesting and sometimes complicated aspects of the music industry, including those of legal and business affairs.
I was also fortunate to meet great artists and composers such as Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Gloria Estefan, Diane Warren, Bryan Adams, Melissa Etheridge, Suzanne Vega, Chris de Burgh, Crowded House and many many others".

"In 1982 I started as music producer, director and editor for national Radio and TV broadcasters VARA.
For five years I was a music programmer for a.o. the Dutch equivalent of the John Peel sessions called Popkrant, selected many promising new bands and produced and supervised numerous live recordings in the Dutch club circuit of artists such as U2, Depeche Mode and Little Steven, but also festivals like No Nukes, Pinkpop, Parkpop, Lochem, Live Aid and other big events for Radio as well as TV.
In this period I also produced the recordings of artists like de Dijk, Forrest, Fox the Fox and many others".

VARA revisited: Editor in Chief
"In 1993 - after leaving EMI- I returned with VARA for a couple of years and became Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer for their TV department and was responsible for programmes in the field of Infotainment and Culture such as Tien voor Taal, Lingo, 3 voor Novib, Matinee en Museumschatten".

"My musical career started in 1970, when my first compositions were released while I was still at Grammar School.
Later I studied Dutch Language and Litterature at the University of Nijmegen for three years.
I admired the work of whizz kid Todd Rundgren and the music of glamrock pioneers like Roxy Music and based on these influences I developed a solo concept called Pantherman and achieved a small cult status in Holland and Germany in 1974.
Polydor asked me to produce more artists for them and I started to become a record producer.

Record Producer
The hits came during the late seventies as staff producer of the internationally acclaimed Relight Studios in Hilvarenbeek and in the early eighties with artists such as the Houseband, Ferdy Lancee, American Gypsy, De Dijk, Fox the Fox and Forrest.
Relight was a top-of -the-bill 24 track studio, where numerous international celebrities came to record their albums such as Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens, Boomtown Rats, Gentle Giant, Robert Fripp, Strawbs etc etc, but also Herman Brood, Gruppo Sportivo and Golden Earring from Holland.
Famous USA soul duo Peaches & Herb recorded one of my songs called "When the lights go out", which is still re-released on compilations.
Some of the tracks I produced then are now considered to be classics in Holland, such as "Bloedend hart" by de Dijk and "Dancing shoes" by the Houseband.
As producer and co-founder of the band Lancee I was awarded with an Edison in 1980 for the album Models, mixed in the Hit Factory in New York.
I was fortunate enough to be able to work in the best studios of the world in London, Manchester, Brussels and Hilversum".