California Schemin': I was emotional watching the film James McAvoy made about my life

“The headlines about us said we were fake Scottish rappers. That was never the case. We made the music, in our own accents. We wanted to put Scotland on the map. We went down to London and we were laughed at because of our accents. We were shunned. But we were determined and we kept sending out our music."

One day, Billy tried a different approach, "I threw on an accent and said we were from California. The reaction was completely different. It just switched. We were a bit taken aback. We still believed we could make it as ourselves, but at some point we decided to get some payback. The same music, the same lyrics, but we just change the accent."

Things escalated from there as the American accents morphed into their personas. As fake Californians, they secured a record label, opened for D12 on tour and appeared on MTV. "It just snowballed to a point where we couldn't go back" Billy says. "We were fully invested. Signing a record deal is all I ever wanted since I was 16 years old, growing up in Arbroath.

"There was a defining moment. We stepped off stage and were approached by a guy, we stayed in character and told him we were from California. We were so hyped by the reaction we had just got from the crowd. It turned out he was from Island Records. He said he wanted to sign us. It was just incredible because we had so much rejection. It was after that we realised we were trapped."

Still making music, Billy recently went to a screening of the film based on his life alongside his wife and their children. "I'd read the script, so I knew what to expect, and I know the story, I lived it, but it was still an emotional rollercoaster. I had tears in my eyes. I can look back and I can understand that maybe it was a bit more that just two gallus guys pushing boundaries. It's been called a Robin Hood story or a David versus Goliath story. I say technical was it was man versus the metaphorical machine of the music industry."

Billy met James McAvoy during the filming of the movie, as scenes were shot in McChuil's pub in Glasgow. "He spotted me from a distance and came running up to give me a big hug. It was bizarre. I think he wanted to show a different working class Scottish story than what we usually see. That's why he connected with our story."

For the next generation of Scottish musicians trying to make things happen, Billy would encourage them to stick to their own voice: "Don't try an American accent, it's been done and it didn't work. You need to make music that you love and you really believe in. If you do that, you can take it anywhere."