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While many rockers have drawn from high fantasy, few have truly lived the enchanted way of life. Certainly, they may embellish their album sleeves with ghouls, beasts, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to find a lost horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours squinting in the interior of a tour bus, mending their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and others as they live out their grand tales. Starting with heraldic, catchy tunes to stunning live shows, costume design, music videos and album art, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a packed show in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. Everything was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands joining forces to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been multiple instances where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on course for a art school education before pulling back at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to learn in the moment.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They embraced the theatrical gore, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the musicians. “We played a show in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley with affection. “Everyone was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been additional practical issues that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an alternative version of the concert where I don’t have a sword.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is preserving the self-crafted look, guaranteeing everything is handmade. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we grow into. Oh, and I want to ride out on a unicorn each show. Think about how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”