Groove Theory #3 - The Empty Stage Test
I'm Howard Gray, founder of Wavetable - the home of playable case studies, and learning experiences that pop.
Currently: building a digital games arcade for grown-ups, writing about how to make it in America.
A dusty field, somewhere in continental Europe. Sun beating down on the summer music festival that's claimed this patch of farmland for the weekend.
One of the hottest acts in UK music climbs the steps to the stage. It's 4pm - sweltering heat, and the crowd is... doing other things. Heads buried in phones. Bodies drifting toward shade and overpriced drinks. Minds on the headliner, still six hours away.
Most artists would see this as their nightmare scenario. Some would fire their agent on the spot.
British hiphop artist Loyle Carner sees it as something else entirely.
The Tension
We live in a world of manufactured engagement. Hearts, likes, echo chambers telling us our work is brilliant.
But what happens when none of that matters? When there's no campaign, no explanation, no goodwill to draw on?
What actually works when nobody knows who you are?
Step Into It
You're about to pitch a new idea. No warm introduction. No reputation. Just you, your concept, and a room full of strangers who've never heard your name.
How do you know if what you're about to say will land?
How do you separate the universal truths from the insider references?
What makes it work for them - and for you?
The Groove: Signal
Signal → Clarify what connects
Loyle Carner has what I call The Empty Stage Test.
When he plays festivals - especially those afternoon slots where "people are indifferent, waiting for the next act, getting drinks" - he gets the most honest feedback possible.
"If you play songs in front of someone where they know nothing about you, you'll know quickly what works universally in a meaningful way"
Those stages - the ones that are empty, indifferent, or both - become his testing lab. They strip away everything except pure signal.
This is deeply uncomfortable, of course.
But consider the messenger: someone who was told at school he was "a disruptive idiot" who "couldn't focus and couldn't spell." Parents told their children they couldn't sit next to him anymore. Teachers said he shouldn't write because of his dyslexia.
Yet here he is, using those empty stages as his greatest teachers - turning the most vulnerable creative moments into his biggest advantage.
And the busy stages? They’re packed: this weekend Loyle Carner played a huge headline slot at Glastonbury Festival; he's sold out four nights at London's cavernous Brixton Academy in November (along with a ton of other venues around the world).
"All the best things about me come from ADHD," he says. "Being emotionally intelligent, being passionate, being inquisitive." The same qualities that made school difficult now help him read rooms right.
When the crowd doesn't know you, when there's no goodwill to draw on, only the most essential parts of your work survive. The universal truths. The real signal.
This isn't about abandoning your niche - it's about strengthening what works by stripping away the noise. When you can connect with people who have zero context, your actual audience feels it even more deeply. The Empty Stage Test can reveal the essence that makes everything else work.
1. Seek indifferent audiences: Find spaces where people don't know you. Test your ideas there. Kids’ after school club instead of your usual industry crowd. Corporate conference instead of your friend's party. The indifference is the point.
2. Remove all context: Can your idea stand without the setup? The backstory? The "let me explain why this matters"? If it needs heavy context to work, it might not be distilled enough yet.
3. Watch what travels: Loyle noticed that certain songs worked regardless of the crowd's knowledge. Those tracks became his foundation. What parts of your work consistently land, even with strangers?
Signal is one of the five elements of Groove Theory. Learn more >
The Release
Your best work doesn't need an audience that already loves you. It can create one.
The empty stage doesn't have to be a problem to solve - instead, it can be a lab. And if your idea works there, it can work anywhere.
One last thing about empty stages.
A music agent I worked with once reminded an irritated band manager: "Sure, maybe 10 people will show up to this pub gig. But one of them could change your life." The A&R exec, the publishing mogul, the producer - they could be any face in that small crowd. And many of us - just like that band - only need one connection to transform everything.
That’s all for this time. Next up - the power of a longing gaze…
Got festival stories? Summer music discoveries? Hit reply - I want ‘em.
Howard
P.S. Loyle Carner's new album "Hopefully" dropped last week. Perfect timing to test which tracks work universally. He’s also a really interesting, articulate chap - do look him up.
Extended Mix: Deep Cuts
- On names: That "Loyle Carner" handle? His mum's idea. It’s a spoonerism of his real name - Benjamin Coyle-Larner - that stuck when he was a kid struggling with dyslexia.
- On teaching: Beyond music, he runs 'Chili Con Carner' a cooking school for teenagers with ADHD: "It doesn't matter what people have said you can't do - you can cook." If this isn’t aligned with the Wavetable vibe, I don’t know what is.
- On honest spaces: Loyle Carner's album "hugo" was named after his dad's car - where they finally reconnected during lockdown driving lessons. The album's Royal Albert Hall live version is a treat.
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