In this rare archival interview from 2000, Garry Shider — legendary Parliament Funkadelic guitarist, vocalist, and creative visionary — sits down with Joe Kelley for an in-depth conversation on funk history. Known as “Diaper Man,” Shider reflects on growing up in Plainfield, New Jersey, meeting George Clinton at a young age, working alongside Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins, and serving as music director for the P-Funk All Stars. He also discusses his solo projects, creative philosophy, and the enduring cultural legacy of funk music.

🎙️ Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley features legendary and emerging funk, R&B, and Prince-associated artists. On air since 1982 and now spanning five decades, the show was personally spotlighted by Prince on his website in 2004. He also gifted us the One Nite Alone box set in 2002 — before any other media outlet.

🎧 More from Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley

YouTube (Full Interviews + Daily Content): https://www.youtube.com/@musiciansreveal

🎶 ! Musicians Reveal Radio on Live365 (24/7 Artist Music & Archives): https://live365.com/station/Musicians-Reveal-Radio-a2504

Website (Episodes, Guest Info & Contact): https://musiciansreveal.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rQAZZtdU2cZB6EeleSZ8

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/musicians-reveal/id1545165178

Been hyping all week long. We are going to be talking right now live to one of the integral members of one of the funk top groups in this business, Parliament Funkadelic.

He's worked with geniuses such as Bernie Worrell, George Clinton, Eddie Hazel, and also Mr. Bootsy Collins. He's currently the music director for P Funk All Stars. And. And he is currently working on a solo CD.

And I heard a track on mp3.com and I'm telling you, folks, it's funky. I'm looking forward to hearing all about this project and what Gary is up to.

We are pleased to be talking live right now to Gary Scheider, who is one of the top musicians in this business. Gary, how you doing this afternoon?

Oh, man, I'm doing good.

And I want to thank you for taking time out of your real busy schedule for coming to the upper room. I know a lot of P Funk fans are out there tuning in on the Internet and what's going on?

Well, right now I'm just sitting back, relaxing, man.

Yeah.

Sitting up in these woods in the mountains.

So you encountered a lot of snow on this recent trip you just took, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was 75 today. I got here, then it rained that night, and next morning it was about three inches of snow.

So you bring your guitar with you or you just. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we were talking. You have a new track which is on mp3.com and it's smoking.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I figured I'd try to do something a little different, you know, Right on with the family and a couple of friends, you know what I'm saying?

You got a lot of. You got stuff in your bag, more than that track.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got a whole bunch of stuff, man. Yeah, Funk is like a bank.

That's right.

You know what I'm saying? And you're definitely gonna make your deposit. And then one day you might have to go get a. Make a withdrawal, you know.

So I'm making withdrawals right now.

That's right. And you can. Folks, we're gonna give you the information on how to listen to the track from Gary, also known as Diaper Man, Doo Wop Shider.

And Gary, you. You listen to this track and you could tell how much of an influence you've been on the Parliament Funkadelic, P Funko All Star sound.

Let's go back to way, way back, if, if you may. You got time for that?

How far back in my mind you need me to go?

We're going to Plainfield New Jersey, in the days where you met the Atomic Dog, Mr. George Clinton. And how old were you when you first caught up with George in Plainfield, New Jersey?

Oh, dang. I had to be about seven or eight.

Seven or eight, right.

Yeah.

And we had Bernie Worrell in the studio last October talking about getting his hair done by George Clinton. At George's Barbershop.

Yeah. On Plainfield Avenue.

Plainfield Avenue. So a lot of great times memories from that. That shop.

Oh, yeah, man. That was called My Growing Years.

Right. You know, so you're seven or eight. How did you know when you were seven or eight years old that you wanted to get into this. This music thing?

Well, see, my whole family is in the music.

Right.

You know, so from day one, I was, you know, blessed with that. From ever since I can remember, man, we was always in the church or something like that. But you were as a family, but.

You were sneaking out of church out here.

Oh, yeah, that was actually out of missionary service.

And, you know, you come from a family, you guys were all playing the guitar. Who, when you were growing up, who'd you look up to when your family is being. Being the top dog playing on the guitar?

My father.

Uh huh. Now, what kind of music was he playing?

He was playing gospel. He was playing blues.

All right.

At Down Home Blues, he let a gut bucket stuff loud. Y' all don't know nothing about that, right?

Oh, no. We dig up some of those CDs. They're reissuing those things a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm talking about Lead Belly and all that.

Oh, okay.

Way back, you know, some of the new fans, they wouldn't know nothing about that.

We gotta school them on.

That's right.

Yeah. But, you know, running with George and, you know, he was getting his thing together. You also had the Parliaments there, the original Parliaments.

Right, right.

And it was Parliaments before it was Funkadilla.

Okay, Right. And they were singing a lot of the R B doo wop stuff, right?

Yeah.

Your thing being the vocalist, one of the top vocalists in the group. You learn a lot from the original Parliaments.

Of course. Yeah, of course. I mean, funk is never ending.

Learning, right?

You always learn something. You wake up the next day, you gonna find something that you can learn.

And now we're moving on to when George and all you got together. And how did it start when you knew you were gonna be a part of this thing with George and Bernie.

Oh, dang. That would have been up in Canada.

What part of Canada?

Toronto.

Okay.

Boogie and Myself. We were in a. I guess you would call a. Let me see, what did you call it? A club band.

Okay.

Like, doing hotels and stuff like that. Actually, when George did call to come on the road, we was on our way to Vegas, right. Boogie and myself.

Okay.

You know, so we had to make a choice.

But before then, we got sent to Canada by George because he was producing a group that we had in Plainfield, New Jersey, called us, which consists of Boogie's brother, Larry Mawson, Harvey McGee, Ben Edwards, Roosevelt Edwards, and Reggie Turner.

Okay, so who kept track of all these projects? Not George. Right?

Yeah.

All right, so, you know, you guys went. Went together, and I. Bernie was also talking about the. The studio days in Michigan and so many things going on. Right?

Yes.

At that house, Right?

Yes.

Right.

And he was talking about pack three.

Then, Right, Right, yeah. He said, you know, you guys were just making music and having fun and things just took off from there.

Right, exactly, exactly. Then, like. But that. When I kind of came in the picture, I remember PAC3, because I use that a lot.

Okay.

First family. But that fact three was one of the ones that started the earlier Motown stuff.

All right.

You know, in fact, Richard Becker, he was the one that built the systems for Motown.

Oh, okay.

You know, the recording equipment.

And you guys just have. From those days, just released so many great tracks and live performances and all that. We could spend hours talking about it.

But you guys with the Mothership, I'm gonna move on to the current day. You guys convened over at Woodstock, right?

Yes.

Now, a lot of different fans out there than, you know, from way back. Do you see any differences in the crowd, or is it just the same vibe?

Well, no, it's different. It's kind of different now and then it repeats itself.

The difference that I see in the crowd now with the Mothership, the audience is predominantly white, Right. It mixed. You know.

Where'd all the brothers and sisters go?

Oh, that's a good question.

Yeah, we got to bring them back.

They're probably waiting to pull up the rear.

Right, right. But no, I don't think that there's a lot of P. Funk fans out there. And, you know, they haven't left. They've just been a little pushed to the side.

Yeah, well, they have musically. What's that?

Those P. Funk fans have kids and grandmothers.

Sure, sure.

You know what I'm saying? So they. Their kids is getting it through, like the rappers.

Right, right.

So the parents get the opportunity. Opportunity to explain to them, well, that was out. That was out before the same way, like when we were growing up, right?

The clothes and stuff that we were wearing. I remember hearing my parents and them talking about they had them, right? You know, like the knickers, the bells. Look at the baggy pants now.

Oh, yeah, sure.

You know, all the big outfits, you're still Little Rascals. And then we're wearing.

Right. So you know folks out there who have seen Parliament Funkadelic live, the P. Funko All Stars, they know about the diaper, right?

Where did that originate from?

Oh, I told my parents one time I was wearing clothes, and then one day I tore my pants and I didn't have nothing to put on, so I wrapped a towel around me.

Right. So you've been going strong with that ever since.

Right, right. I decided I wasn't gonna grow up after that.

Well, we're gonna get into one of the tracks which you. You wrote and performed. This is from George Clinton Presents Our Gang Funky. Right. And your wife's on there, too, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So what's the origin of this album?

Which one is this? Our Gang Funky.

Yeah, our Gang Funky.

Well, wait a minute. Explain to me what you're asking me.

No, I was saying what made George put this record together. You know, you got some folks which, you know, microwave and.

Well, at that time, we were cutting. We were on mca.

Okay.

Bless you. Bless you. Bless you, bless you. We were on mca. Can you hear my. My fan in the background? Yeah, you're.

You're real polite.

Yes. That's my wife. Yeah.

Okay, say hi to her.

They said, hello, Linda, but she said hi between her sneezes.

Right.

That was. We was on mca and at that time, we were cutting Funkadelic. We were supposed to cut two groups.

So.

Well, our game, Funky was going to be different groups trying to launch off different groups. You had. Let me see who else was on there. What's his name? Stefan.

Right.

Stefan was on there.

Maximoff.

Who?

Maximum. Yeah.

And Cadillac Heights.

Baby Fat.

Right. That was Joe Pep out of the Undisputed Truth.

Right.

That's his daughter.

Oh, okay. Cheating. I got the record label right here, so.

Right, yeah. But who else we had on it?

Jessica Cleaves.

Right?

Otw, you got. You got a whole cast. Bootsy's on there, right. Blackbird. And you got some serious players on there.

Oh, man. Let me see. Did Sly play on that? No, Sly didn't play on that. No.

Amp fiddler.

Yeah.

Yeah. So Bernie must have been out touring with somebody else.

Who?

Bernie must have been playing with somebody else during that time.

I think that time he might have been with Talking Head.

Right, right. But we're gonna play the track that you. You sang on there, right there, called Beautiful.

And we'll come back and talk about the new P Funk All Star project, which, uh, folks want to hear. And, uh, well, well, actually.

Actually, Lucy. Beautiful. Beautiful. That was. My wife wrote that.

Right. Bootsy's on there, too.

Her Georgia Microwave.

Huh?

And Bootsy, I believe, too, because Bootsy, I think the track came from Bootsy and Microwave.

Right. And of course, you're singing and playing guitar on it. Right, Right. So this is Gary Scheider. Gary, as you were known as a doo wop shoter there.

And Gary's got a new solo cd, which. Which he's hard at work on, of course.

He is the band leader of the current configuration of P Funk All Stars, and he is also a member of the Rock and Roll hall of Fame with Parliament Funkadelic. We'll come back and talk with Gary in just a few moments. This is the upper room. That's from Gary Scheider. Funky. It's called Beautiful.

From George Clinton presents our game. Funky. Right here, Joe Kelly in the upper room.

And I want to thank Mr. Gary Scheider, one of the top guitarists in the land, and he is the current musical director to Parliament Funk All Stars. P Funk All Stars. And what's it like being inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame? That's quite an honor, isn't it?

Oh, man. That's the greatest honor you can get.

Yeah, that's right. And that was. How long ago was that exactly? You know what?

That's a good question. When did you get inducted? Two years ago.

Two years ago. And a lot of the members showed up, right?

Everybody showed up.

Everybody showed up.

Except for Tal Ross. We couldn't find him, I don't think.

Okay, yeah, but, you know, the legacy. You guys got a living legacy. But, you know, people are never gonna forget Parliament Funkadelic and you and Bernie and George and Bootsy.

And right now you've been taking on your own solo project, right?

Yes.

You're working with some top people. Jerome Braley's on it, right?

Yes.

Yeah. And of course, you're playing what? Almost everything but the kitchen sink, right?

Dried. Really?

Yeah. So how's it going? You're talking any time frame. I know musicians hate hearing that. Right.

Well, see, if you know that, you won't ask that.

Okay, that's mistake number one. Right, right. But what are you looking for different from your group projects with this solo thing.

Well, I'm just trying to see how many different elements of music can be mixed together. That's what that contest is about.

Okay. And that's right, we're talking about an innovative reaching out to the fans contest.

If they can feel something, just send it in. You know, some lyrics or something. Send it in.

Yeah. Gary's looking.

We can use it. If it don't, then, you know, we won't use it.

So you fans out there who got funk in your veins and looking to write some lyrics to a funky track by Gary Scheider, you can go to the website wfnk.com and submit your lyrics, and they'll see if it'll work in a song. And the person's lyrics who you select is going to be able to go on stage with you at a concert. Right, right.

So you're doing something real nice for the fans, I got to tell you that.

Oh, man. Well, see, everybody, I feel like this. Everybody out there that's a fan got some kind of funk in them, man.

That's right.

You know, everybody's got some kind of talent.

That's right. And your fans are definitely appreciative of it. I gotta ask you, you know, besides your own music that you're working on, who.

Who you listen to today, you got anybody you got in your CD player listen to?

That's a good question. I like the Chili's.

Okay.

I like Snoop. Wait, but what's them girls? Destiny Child.

Yeah.

Destiny's Child, tlc, Prince.

Yeah. Going back to that fellow. How was the show up at Paisley Park?

Oh, that was great, man. Yeah, Larry was there. Larry Graham, right? Mavis Staples. It was actually a party.

Yeah.

You know, that he threw.

And her Wesley Park, I heard was pretty wild. Some. Some folks jumping up on stage. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We definitely need to see the footage from that.

I. I hear that the show was real nice and everything.

It was, yeah, it was great, man.

So as far as recording up there, you guys do any tracks?

Yes, well, we've done. We did. Which album was that?

Hey, man, Smell My Finger.

Smell My Finger. We did that up there. And Cinderella Theory. Well, Cinderella Theory was done.

So, speaking of recording, is there any difference between the way you guys work on a George Clinton project, Power Emblem, and Funkadelic as working with the artist? Is it different recording, same vibe?

Everybody got their different ways of recording, you know what I'm saying? Like, we used to Funkadelica, we used to go in and record all at one time. We've done that in a while.

You know, in fact, I think we're getting ready to go back to that.

Okay.

You know, that way you get a live feel.

Right.

What I found out there was they do a lot of sampling, looping and all that stuff, you know, which we do that now, but not as much, I believe as other groups do it.

Right. So you know, you got a much talked about project with Funkadelic, a new album. You're saying it's a little ways off, Right? Right.

Any title to it or still in the works?

No, I can't reveal that, man.

Okay, I won't push you on that. Yeah.

So that, see that's got to be the element of surprise. Yeah.

And that's what you guys have always been definite masters in surprise and, and great music and man, what a trip I got, you know. You know, this solo project, George is definitely behind it, right? I mean he's supportive of you.

Yes. Yeah. The fact that I'm working on one now that go crazy about you.

Uh huh.

That he put his voice on over in Japan for me.

Okay.

You know, and another friend of mine had the track in la, so I did the track in la and I'm doing the backgrounds at home.

And of course you'll be able to hear. You're going to put more tracks up on mp3.com? Right, right.

I'm going to put that one on it.

Oh, okay.

What I'm talking about.

Yeah. And the current track you have up there, what's the title of that one?

Oh, wait a minute. Oh, Duke Dua.

And it's real nice, I'm telling you. Nice vocals too.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah. And people, all you have to do, it's very easy. Go to www.mp3.com, type in on the search Gary Scheider. And voila, you got it.

Then you on and you're on and you.

And don't forget the contest now.

Oh yeah, you know, we got.

That's instrumental stuff.

For the instrumental stuff, Gary is looking for some great lyricists who got funked. Wfnk.com you don't have to type www. That's a real nice website and supportive of the funk.

Gary, I tell you, it's been a real pleasure talking with you and get back to resting up because I know you're gonna be touring this summer, right?

Oh yeah, man. Like I said, we go back out on the 27th.

Where, where, where, where are you playing the next time?

I don't have the slightest idea. Something I heard something about Myrtle Beach.

Okay.

And that's in South Carolina. So I'm figuring we'll do the south and probably the east coast. Finally come up your way.

Oh, yeah. And you definitely have to keep in contact once you come up here. And you're welcome. Open invitation to stop by the studios here.

I'll hold you to that.

All right. Because we got an in house concert series here. You can bring that guitar and just go to town.

I'll definitely do that.

That's right. Bernie was up here with a couple keyboards. He's a real great guy. Yep.

Well, we're gonna play one of the tracks in which you are co writer and instrumental player on this is George Clinton's Atomic Dog.

Yeah. Okay.

And you know we're gonna be supporting that solo project, Gary.

Oh, man, I'll be glad to have that support.

That's right. And I want to thank you for taking time out of your vacation.

All right.

And get back to relaxing.

Okay, Joe.

Okay. Thanks, Gary. This is the upper room with Joe Kelly on 88.5 inches.