After being dismissed as "rapping Proclaimers" during auditions because of their accents,[1][2][3][4][5] they decided to take on American identities, pretending to be from San Jacinto in California.
They created the personas of Silibil (Boyd, a play on "silly Bill" and "syllable") and Brains McLoud (Bain).
They rapidly got management with Jonathan Shalit and later a record deal with Sony Music UK for two singles and an album.
The pair worked on recording material and continued to perform live, including opening for D12, and appearing on MTV.
[6] However, Sony's merger and subsequent job losses left them without supporters in the record company and their planned first single was delayed for at least 6 months as the label focused on other acts.