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While many rockers have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Sure, they could decorate their album covers with creatures, goblins, captive women and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever needed to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has anyone spent time straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and additional ones as they act out their heroic dreams. From knightly, catchy anthems to stunning concerts, outfit creation, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” explains vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in another town – they have several shows in the UK now. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the energy was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands collaborating to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “It made it a much better project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on path for a art school education before balking at the prospect of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, costume design, learning how to edit music videos … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s fun to figure it out as we go.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We performed a show in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I get endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a van with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a mythic tale, then pack it down into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there’s not an alternative version of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I want to go as far as possible – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is preserving the self-crafted look, making sure everything is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, whatever we achieve. Additionally, I desire to appear on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”