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Although numerous rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, few have genuinely embodied the fantasy lifestyle. Certainly, they may embellish their record jackets with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever needed to recover a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Did anyone spent time squinting in the back of a road transport, repairing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they live out their heroic dreams. From knightly, catchy songs to eye-popping performances, attire styling, visuals and album art, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK currently. “We played two shows and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a pestilence physician (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that places them on the brink of bigger achievements.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better record,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of satisfaction as a female in music working independently. There’ve been multiple instances where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on track for a art school education before hesitating at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, attire creation, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to figure it out as we go.”

Even though developing the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her completely original scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Each item is constantly breaking and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I get numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then store it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the future. “I want to go to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, making sure everything is handmade. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, whatever we grow into. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a magical horse every night. Remember how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”