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California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry

by Gavin Bain

Paperback £10.99
Published 9th April 2026
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Description

**Now a major motion picture directed by James McAvoy**

How far would you go to make your dreams come true? 

Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd were two ordinary boys from Dundee with one extraordinary ambition: to become the UK’s first hip-hop superstars. Reinventing themselves as Silibil ‘N’ Brains, they convinced the music industry they were Californian rap prodigies – pulling off one of the most audacious hoaxes in modern music history.

For more than two years, they lived the dream: a huge record deal, MTV appearances, non-stop partying, and rubbing shoulders with Madonna and Eminem. They had fame, money, and everything they’d ever wanted – built on borrowed accents and fabricated pasts.

But success came with a ticking clock. The bigger they became, the closer they came to exposure. As the pressure mounted, the lie began to unravel – with devastating consequences.

California Schemin’ is a breathtaking true story of ambition, identity and the cost of believing your own myth – now adapted into a major film directed by James McAvoy. 

Details

California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry
by Gavin Bain

ISBN
9781398564473

Publisher
Simon & Schuster Ltd

Binding
Paperback

Publication date
April 9, 2026

Dimensions
19.8cm x 13.0cm x 1.8cm

Excerpt