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Although many rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they might embellish their record jackets with ghouls, imps, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to find a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time straining their eyes in the rear of a road transport, repairing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and additional ones as they live out their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, catchy tunes to stunning concerts, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” states singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds 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 received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of pride as a female in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on path for a art school education before balking at the idea of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, learning how to edit music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They embraced the stage blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We performed a gig in Detroit and it resembled a historical festival,” reminisces Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in capes, sheepskin, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “All our gear is constantly breaking and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a mythic tale, then compress it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because we don’t have an backup plan of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I want to go as far as possible – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to keep true to, regardless of we scale to. Oh, and I wish to ride out on a unicorn each show. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”