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

by Gavin Bain

**Soon to be a major motion picture directed by James McAvoy**

California Schemin' is the remarkable true story of how two rappers from Dundee duped the music industry out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd – or Silibil N' Brains, as they became known – were two ordinary Scottish boys who shared an extraordinary to become rap superstars. Creating new identities for themselves, they persuaded the music industry that they were the latest hot young talent from California. Silibil N' Brains then lived out that lie for more than two years, securing an enormous record deal with Sony and being catapulted into the industry high-life, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Madonna and Eminem.

But they could never actually deliver and promote the album they were paid so much money to put together. As soon as they became famous, they would be recognised by anyone who had known them in their former lives in Scotland and the dream would evaporate. As the pressure mounted, there could be disastrous consequences …

California Schemin' is a story of incredible highs and terrible lows, of doing whatever it takes to follow your dream.

Genres: Nonfiction

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Gavin Bain is one of the members of Scottish hip-hop duo "Silibil N' Brains", along with Billy Boyd. Their experiences masquerading as two American rappers from California to secure a record deal formed the basis of Bain's 2010 memoir California Schemin' (later reprinted as Straight Outta Scotland), and were told in the 2013 documentary film The Great Hip Hop Hoax, directed by British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay.

Reviews

[cobra bubbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a genuine true lie, Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd conned the classist British music industry by hiding their Scottish accents to become an American rap duo, Silibil N’ Brains. ‘California Schemin’’ was recently diverted to the big screen as James McAvoy’s directorial debut, which I got on really well with. Gavin Bain is a great storyteller… but I found him immature and irresponsible, which is about as much as you can expect from a white rapper who never considers his privilege in a space of black music.

I don’t begrudge the lie about his identity, because code-switching is something we all subconsciously do to match the formality of the conversation. Where I take issue, is with his lack of introspection and how he seems to only bring up the deaths of people around him passively. Perhaps most egregious is the passing of a girlfriend (whose presence is only limited to when her death occurs) and Gavin’s response is to find a girl to use as a fuck-toy where their relationship becomes physically abusive. Again, this is maintained in a fleeting sentence with no pause for reflection.

Well, at least we got a good movie out of it, eh?

⭐️⭐️✨

[Annica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and different in many ways. Not sure how he (Gavin) survived the self abuse... I'm possibly a bit old to fully appreciate the story and I do hope that Gavin figures out a way to use his determination in a more constructive way - he could be so successful!

[Damo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good tale of someone fighting many demons and also trying to live separate lives. Very engaging tale and makes you want to google for more info.

[El Catz]

Not rating this because I read for work. But it’s a good read!

[Kerrie-ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight Outta Scotland is based on the life of my awesome friend Gavin Bain. It focuses on his life in the music industry with Silibil and Brains (this being Gavin Bain). This book was written entirely by Gavin himself. This book is filled with cons, fights, girls and suicide attempts (only 1 suicide attempt I must add).

The only suicide attempt in this novel is written about at the start in the prologue. Gavin is found by his sister after having taken a mixed batch of pills. Gavin does end up in hospital a few more times after this from injuries he sustained in fights. Only one death is written about in this novel and that was of a close friend of Gavin's. The suicide attempt and the death of Gavin's close friend were the saddest parts of this novel.

Gavin and Billy (Silibil), who are both from Scotland, conned the music industry into believing they were the next big hip hop act from America. They managed to pull this con off for a couple of years aswell, until everything started to unravel for the band. Billy liked to party lots and drink a lot. Gavin liked to do the same, but he also wanted to concentrate on making new music for the band. This started to cause tension between Gavin and Billy until it all reached a head when Billy announced he was getting married and disappeared from the house they shared.

The fights written about in this novel were between Gavin, Billy and other guys from clubs. However, there were also a few fights between Gavin and Billy themselves when they started to disagree on what they wanted from life and the band. The main fight taking place between them when Billy announced he was getting married and was basically distancing himself from the band/the music. The guys loved going out on tour so they could pull as many girls as possible. They loved the ladies and the ladies loved them.

Towards the end of this novel you start to read about what happened in Gavin's life after Silibil and Brains ended. Gavin's one main passion in life was music and this is what he wanted to continue in the future of his life. From this Hopeless Heroic was created and to this day they are an awesome rock band with a twist. They are the only rock band I know to have a very talented violinist in their band.

This is a must read novel if you want to see how a talented musician duped the music industry into believing he was from America and not Scottish. Now Gavin has gone back to his natural Scottish accent. Hopeless Heroic continue to make rocking music with their best song being, in my opinion, Guinea Pig Syndrome. In my opinion this is a must read novel for any music fan. This book gets 5/5 stars as it is a brilliant novel by my awesome friend Gavin Bain.

[Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the start of this book, I genuinely didn't know if it was fact or fiction.
Now that I've finished it...... I'm no clearer.
This is the tail of Gavin Bain's life. Scottish, moved to South Africa, moved back, formed a rap band with two other Scots, decided to pretend to be American, got signed, turned it into a punk band again (still American), got dropped, lost everything and everyone, started a new band (yup, still American), announced at their first gig that he was Scottish.
Along the way he had his heartbroken, shagged anyone who would let him, was drunk and high pretty much all the time, struggled with anxiety, lost people, made new friends and generally had a mad old time.
And you kind of enjoy the ride, right until three pages from the end when he casually let's something slip and your view of him suddenly changes (well, mind did).
And from that point on, I didn't care about anything he had to say. I finished the book purely because I was three pages from the end. Had this event been revealed earlier on I would have thrown the book in the bin.
While it's a wild tale, I still don't trust a lot of what I read - even if he was seemingly being very honest late on - and but for it being massively over-written this would be a fun book.
He's a little too obsessed with his own toilet habits, but hey - his book, he can write whatever shit he wants. Literally.
But that one, dismissive, revelation leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

(And no I'm not saying what it was - spoilers, sweetie)

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first thoughts on finishing this book is that it's a wonder how Gavin Bain managed to write a coherent book at all after the huge amounts of alcohol he had consumed after his wild partying lifestyle! In fact, the book starts with him being rushed to hospital (not for the first time!) having drunk so much alcohol and popped so many pills that it was presumed it was a suicide bid.

First Lines:

Afterwards they would call it a suicide attempt - and that's if they would call it anything at all. Mostly they chose never to speak about it, at least not in my company

This story is mostly about the build up to that night and how Scot Gavin -- a neurotic, obsessive, insomniac -- and his friend Billy Boyd -- handsome, confident, self-satisfied -- fooled everyone in this fascinating account of a crazy two years in the life of the rappers known as Silibil N' Brains. Their whole appeal was built on a lie, a scam.

Gavin's life in those days was full of highs (signed by Sony and given a huge advance) and lows (too many to mention) and we follow him through all these, knowing that he's heading for a fall. I did feel quite sorry for him several times, but he was his own worst enemy, he doesn't want our pity, he knows he was an idiot.

I enjoyed his writing style, it was simple, never dull or boring, he didn't try to sensationalise things - he just told it how it was - and I'm glad he did and I'm glad I read it.

[Erin Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the wrecking ball that was silibil and brains (told through the memories of a neurotic Gavin Bain) leaving Gavin and Billy's actual life in tatters but could not help but think perhaps a good portion of what happened was fabricated as I have also seen the documentary which contradicts some stuff in the book.. but regardless it took me 3 days to read and I loved the lies, destruction, manipulation of the music industry and A list american acting.. The book is pretty well written and kept me gripped.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

If even half of this is true, then it's one of the wilder walks on music's wild side, and reflects pretty badly on everyone concerned, from the 'perpetrators' of the scam (silly wee boys really) to the biz executives (credulous and craven) and the hangers on (shallow and pretty dumb). But it's also screamingly funny at times and easy to imagine as the bones of a very entertaining film. Side note: not the Scot duos fault exactly, but this could never happen now, just a short ten years later.

[Paul Narloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish my drugs of choice during younger hazy days gave the power to recount memories in such extraordinary detail.

[Ian Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have read in years. The audacity of what they did keeps you hooked though out. Its a unique true story. I can't believe it's not more popular. I would love to see it made into a film. It's hilarious and well written. Deserves more credit.

[Jaime Gardiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the books I always buy for people. That says a lot!
Thanks for the memories man!