Funktional

"FUNKTIONAL PRODUCTIONS" is the

production company owned and founded by

hit songwriter, producer, musician, and artist

Ira Schick(man) aka Ira Schick.

IRA SCHICKMAN

Over the past two decades, producer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist, Ira Schickman, (a.k.a. Ira Schick) has worked with some of the most legendary recording artists in the music industry. The range and depth of his talent has resulted in successful collaborations with an eclectic array of artists from Chaka Khan to Kylie Minogue.

From the start, Ira found himself surrounded and mentored by some of the most famous musicians in the world including George Clinton, Stanley Sheldon, Lenny White and George Benson. As a teenager Ira also co-wrote songs with legendary artists such as Chaka Khan and Ace Frehley of KISS.

In the mid-eighties Ira played a principal role in building Calliope Studios and placing it at the center of the hip-hop movement. Under Ira's leadership, the studio ignited the careers of icons such as De La Soul, Queen Latifah and A Tribe Called Quest.

In 1994, Ira founded Funktional Productions Inc., where he focused on writing and producing R&B and soul while working with singers such as Marc Dorsey, Calvin Richardson and Rahsaan Patterson among others. Ira then went on to sign a major publishing deal with Warner Chapel Publishing, solidifying his standing as a prominent songwriter.

In 2000, Ira wrote "Spinning Around" with Kara Dioguardi for Kylie Minogue, which went platinum several times over as an international number one hit and won Kylie Best Pop Release at the prestigious ARIA Awards in Australia. "Spinning Around" was principally responsible for re-establishing Kylie as a worldwide superstar. Further building upon his success in the genre of pop, Ira composed "Falling" for N'SYNC's album, Celebrity. This song was also included on the soundtrack for the Miramax Film, On the Line

Aside from his numerous album credits Ira has also composed original songs for film and television. He wrote, produced and performed the title track of Universal Film Loving Jezebel, entitled "They Don't Know." He produced the title track, "Have A Little Faith in Me" for the film Disappearing Acts starring Wesley Snipes. Ira co-wrote and produced "Caught Up" for Queen Latifah's box office hit, Beauty Shop and wrote and produced "Let's Roll" for the Fox–Searchlight film Roll Bounce, starring Bow Wow and Nick Cannon.

In recent years, Ira was honored to be included as a producer on Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Ira then returned to his Funk and R&B roots and produced “Back Again” for Soulive’s album, Breakout. He has also reunited with the Queen of Funk Soul, Chaka Khan, who was featured on the song "Shining Star" that he produced for Maurice White’s album, Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire and was also a producer, writer and musician on Chaka Khan's two-time Grammy award winning album Funk This (2008).



Currently, Ira and veteran singer, writer and producer, Dinky Bingham, reunited their R&B group The Construction Brothers and are currently writing and recording for their upcoming album. In a cross promotion with Google, their latest single “Karma” is featured on the brand new t-mobile G1 cell phone.

Known as an innovator in the industry, he doesn't just make good music; Ira makes music that breaks boundaries. It is very rare that a producer is respected and sought after by the top Rock, Funk, R&B, Pop, Hip-Hop, and Soul artists and has the success Ira has had in each of these genres. However, Ira is more than a producer. First and foremost, Ira is an artist and musician, who plays guitar, bass, keys, drums and the list goes on. While most musicians can’t possibly fathom having a jam session with Stevie Wonder, this is a day in the life of Ira Schickman. Dreams are nothing more than reality in Ira’s world. Current and classic, Ira proves that true talent is the key to enduring success.



Partial list :



ACE FREHLEY FREHLEY'S COMET KISS

ALLISON WILLIAMS

BLACK SHEEP

BOBBY BROWN

CHAKA KHAN

CRAIG MACK

CALVIN RICHARSON

DAMAGE

DAS FX

FUNK MASTER FLEX

GREGG ALLMAN

GEORGE CLINTON

KYLIE MINOGUE

MARK DORSEY

NSYNC

QUEEN LATIFAH

RAHSAAN PATTERSON

SOULIVE

THE CONSTRUCTION BROTHERS

(Ira is a member of the Construction Brothers)

YVETTE MICHELLE

YUMMY BINGHAM

etc etc etc.



Ira is currently working THE CONSTRUCTION BROTHERS record

New York and Los Angeles