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Although numerous artists have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the enchanted lifestyle. Sure, they could decorate their album covers with creatures, beasts, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever have to recover a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a tour bus, fixing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and more as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, memorable songs to stunning live shows, outfit creation, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have five gigs in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. Everything was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the energy was incredible. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands uniting to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a specific level of accomplishment being a woman in music doing everything solo. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the scale of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on course for a university studies in art before hesitating at the idea of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, learning how to edit clips … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to learn on the fly.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They took to the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the musicians. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a historical festival,” recalls Riley fondly. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is always failing and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a van with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because there is no an backup plan of the concert where I don’t have a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I want to go all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring each detail is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I want to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”