California Schemin'
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California Schemin'
A true story of how two young rappers from Scotland fooled the record industry.
Soon to be 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.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781398564473
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 April 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Edition: Film Tie-In
Illustration: none
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 18.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Gavin Bain is a musician, a writer and a conman. He has been, amongst other things, a telesales man, a shop assistant, a waiter, a barman in a strip club, an actor, an escort agent, a construction worker, a graphic designer, a signed musician and a professional conman. He's had it all, lost it all and won it all back again. Despite being a hypochondriac, an insomniac and briefly a hermit, he has achieved many things including touring with some of the biggest artists in the world. Gavin's story has inspired a documentary and a feature film with SilverApples Media in Dublin, who have contracted Irvine Welsh to write the screen-play.
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