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While many artists have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Certainly, they might adorn their album covers with ghouls, beasts, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever have to recover a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has anyone devoted hours peering in the rear of a tour bus, mending their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy songs to stunning concerts, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a sold-out gig in a German city to one more in another town – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a pestilence physician (bassist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “It made it a more powerful album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a female in music working independently. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the breadth of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on track for a university studies in art before pulling back at the possibility of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express artistry,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, mastering post-production music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly entrusted her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They embraced the fake blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the group. “We had a show in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, armor.”

That’s not to imply, though, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Everything is frequently damaged and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a van with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because we don’t have an alternative version of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “My goal is to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, whatever we grow into. Oh, and I wish to appear on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? That, but with a unicorn.”