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Although plenty of rockers have drawn from high fantasy, few have truly lived the enchanted existence. Admittedly, they may decorate their album covers with ghouls, beasts, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but did a member ever have to find a misplaced unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time squinting in the back of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and more as they embody their heroic dreams. From heraldic, memorable anthems to breathtaking performances, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not so much a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in a German city to another in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have this much fun always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a epic masterpiece that places them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scope of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on course for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her brand-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the musicians. “We played a show in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Everything is frequently damaged and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

There have been additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an alternative version of the performance where I don’t have a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I aim to reach to the top – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Additionally, I wish to appear on a magical horse at all performances. Think about how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”