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Although numerous musicians have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the mythical way of life. Certainly, they could decorate their album covers with ghouls, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever needed to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time straining their eyes in the rear of a road transport, repairing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and more as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy tunes to breathtaking performances, attire styling, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a October show, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a pestilence physician (bassist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of legendary heavy bands joining forces to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of pride as a female in music doing everything solo. I’ve had so many times where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a university studies in art before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, mastering post-production music videos … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “Everyone was in cloaks, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a vehicle with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an backup plan of the show where I lack a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is custom-made. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, whatever we achieve. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but on a mythical creature.”