Playback: The REAL California Schemin'

The Modern Mann

Matt Hill

Relationships, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.8 • 753 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The amazing true story behind James McAvoy's directorial debut feature: Olly Mann sits down with Gavin Bain, one half of Silibil 'n' Brains⁠, the Californian rap group that never was. "Sometimes you have to be other people to become who you are." Best mates with Eminem, signed by Sony, and on the verge of international superstardom, Silibil 'n' Brains were the music industry's Next Big Thing. There was just one problem: they'd never been to California. They were from Dundee. In this extraordinary interview with Olly, Gavin Bain - who, as Brains Mcloud, was one half of the hip hop duo - recalls how a heady mix of humiliation, desperation and sheer chutzpah lead him to fool the entire music industry - and brought him to the brink. This interview first aired in 2017, under the title, The Confidence Trick. Now remastered, we're republishing this episode to coincide with the new feature film, California Schemin', released on April 10th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So retrospect is what historical events are we ticking off on this week's run of today in history?
0:04.7	On Monday, when Ricky Martin was living La Vida Loca.
0:07.9	On Tuesday, how the women shut out of the Olympics began their own games.
0:12.0	On Wednesday, fancy a Bidenden cake, the origins of one of England's most eccentric traditions.
0:17.8	On Thursday, the anniversary of the day, the Heavens Gate cult made a controversial exit.
0:22.6	And on Friday, Cleopatra Kamenachar, courtesy of Julius Caesar.
0:26.7	That's today in history with the retrospectors.
0:29.4	Ten minutes each weekday, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:33.9	Hello, I'm Olly Mann, and it's the end of of the month so it's time for our playback edition.
0:38.6	Great stories resurrected from the Modern Man archive.
0:42.3	And I'm on the streets of Birmingham today.
0:44.3	You'll find out why in a couple of weeks' time.
0:46.5	But back in 2017, I interviewed Gavin Bain.
0:50.5	Now, his story has just been turned into a film, California Schieman.
0:54.7	It's directed by James McAvoy.
0:56.5	It comes out on April 10th.
0:58.2	And it is the incredible true story of two white teenagers from Dundee who fake American accents in order to get signed as hip-hop stars in a London record industry that is looking for the next M&M but cannot abide their Scottishness. I've seen it. It's a fantastic British film, funny, heartwarming, it's really well acted, it's not too long either. I think millions of people around the world are going to fall in love with it. It's a great portrayal of both the music industry of the Nauties and I can say of what it's like being in a double act as well.
1:30.7	But of course the story was already known to me, mostly because Gavin shared it with us here on the show nine years ago.
1:37.3	And so we thought we'd take this moment to revisit that interview, which we originally released in an episode called The Confidence Trick.
1:45.4	Gavin is a brilliant storyteller. He loves, as we discuss in this conversation,
1:50.2	The Journey. And I hope that this interview will function really well to either wet your
1:54.5	appetite for the film, or if you found this episode because you've seen the movie and you
	...

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