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While numerous rockers have borrowed from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Admittedly, they could embellish their record jackets with ghouls, goblins, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever have to find a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did anyone devoted hours peering in the back of a tour bus, repairing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and others as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, memorable anthems to breathtaking performances, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in a German city to a second one in another town – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, costume design, mastering post-production clips … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly left her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They took to the theatrical gore, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in cloaks, animal hides, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, though, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a van with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a mythic tale, then pack it down into nothing.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the performance where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach all the way – we should play large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is custom-made. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I desire to ride out on a mythical beast each show. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”