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Table of Contents
About The Book
**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.
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.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (July 31, 2026)
- Length: 288 pages
- ISBN13: 9781398564473
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Raves and Reviews
‘A blistering, hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll party of a story, it is written with brio and self-deprecating laughs’
– Big Issue
‘One of the most amazing, high octane, hedonistic morality tales of our time . . . An absolutely essential read’
– Irvine Welsh
'Jaw-dropping'
– Independent on Sunday
‘This is the story of a rapping duo who enjoyed one of the most ludicrous careers in the modern music industry . . . A right rollicking read, with lots of sex and drugs and wild, wild times’
– Daily Mail
‘This story is like Robin Hood for the 21st century and will sit alongside all the great rock ‘n’ roll stories in history’
– Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records
‘You can’t put this book down! It’s got echoes of Trainspotting, Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange, but it’s not fiction – it’s real’
– Dean Cavanagh, creator of Svengali
‘Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd probably persuaded themselves that the fib they chose to tell was the kind of white lie that would harm no one, least of all themselves. But it was to break up their friendship, alienate countless other friends, humiliate the British music industry and drive one of them to the brink of suicide’
– Scotsman
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
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Book Cover Image (jpg): California Schemin'
Film Tie-In Paperback 9781398564473
