How Lockdown DJ Continental GT Built Himself A Live Music Empire

The weather outside is bleak and humid, with densely populated clouds in the sky obscuring any sunlight. Continental GT’s spirit, however, is far from a reflection of the dull weather this Friday afternoon. He radiates an audacious, bold energy that can be immediately felt on the phone: “My day’s good, man! I have to do one or two things before I pick up the kids from school—I need to prepare for a show in London tomorrow.”

The Birmingham-born selector has been booked and busy selling out venues for the past two years under his club night, STEPPERS, which he’s done mostly by putting himself as the headliner. How he established himself amid global calamity sets him apart from others in his field. During the Covid-19 lockdown, as the pandemic was raging in every corner of Britain, over 70% of DJs had to retrain or pick up new skills together due to the state of the world, putting performance careers on hold altogether. It was a dark period for the music industry at large. But GT found a way to evolve while helping to keep us mentally sane at the same time. 

Using the power of social media, GT spun tracks live from his home to ensure our spirits stayed euphoric and joyful during uncertain times, providing back-to-back house, UK funky, garage and grime hits for our eardrums every Friday and Saturday night. It was only a short time until his follower count grew to numbers that could sell out arenas, grabbing the attention of stars such as Ghetts, Chip, Lethal Bizzle, Maya Jama, Michael Ward and more who would all tune into his IG Lives—every weekend, without fail—where he created a virtual rave for all to attend. 

We caught up with Continental GT to discuss his come-up, his Channel U past, and how it feels to be selling out arenas pretty much all by himself. 

“I’ve gone from lockdown, doing DJ sets on IG Live from my house, to selling out arenas! To do all of that in such a short space of time is just crazy to me.”