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While many musicians have borrowed from high fantasy, few have truly lived the mythical way of life. Certainly, they may embellish their record jackets with monsters, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever needed to find a missing mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Has a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the interior of a road transport, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they embody their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable songs to breathtaking live shows, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in Cologne to one more in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK currently. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. Everything was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. I thought, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands joining forces to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has increased, 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 smiles. She was originally on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the idea of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to learn in the moment.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she admittedly delegated her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We had a show in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We faced further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at a music event in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an backup plan of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I want to make an entrance on a unicorn each show. Think about how legends ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”