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Although many rockers have drawn from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they might decorate their record jackets with monsters, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to retrieve a lost mythical horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did anyone spent time straining their eyes in the rear of a tour bus, fixing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and others as they act out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, music videos and record designs, they’re more than a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I thought, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a pestilence physician (bassist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that sets them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better project,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of satisfaction as a woman in music going it alone. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has grown, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to figure it out in the moment.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They took to the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, wool garments, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I get numerous thoughts 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 unique problem to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into nothing.”

There have been other logistical problems that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the concert where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I desire to make an entrance on a magical horse each show. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”