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While plenty of musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the enchanted lifestyle. Admittedly, they could embellish their album covers with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to find a lost horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and others as they embody their epic fantasies. From knightly, earworm-heavy songs to breathtaking live shows, outfit creation, videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” states singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to a second one in another town – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a pestilence physician (bassist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride being a woman in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on track for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out as we go.”

As if building the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly left her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They took to the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the musicians. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “All our gear is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a van with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the performance where I lack a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I aim to reach as far as possible – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is preserving the self-crafted look, ensuring everything is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we scale to. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a magical horse at all performances. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”