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Although plenty of musicians have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Sure, they could embellish their album sleeves with ghouls, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever been forced to retrieve a missing horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the rear of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they embody their heroic dreams. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy songs to stunning concerts, costume design, music videos and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitar player, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a sold-out gig in a German city to one more in another town – they are playing five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a specific level of pride being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the breadth of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before balking at the idea of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover as we go.”

Even though developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the band. “We played a concert in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” recalls Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, sheepskin, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “All our gear is frequently damaged and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a mythic tale, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a music event in Portugal and my baggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an alternative version of the performance where I don’t have a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “I aim to reach to the top – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure all elements is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Additionally, I wish to appear on a magical horse at all performances. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”