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While plenty of rockers have drawn from epic fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the mythical way of life. Certainly, they may decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to find a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist spent time squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, mending their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and additional ones as they live out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy anthems to stunning concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in a German city to another in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a pestilence physician (bassist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that places them on the verge of far grander things.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of accomplishment as a woman in music doing everything solo. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the scope of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on track for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out on the fly.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They took to the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the concert where I don’t have a blade.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is preserving the handmade style, guaranteeing all elements is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to keep true to, whatever we grow into. Oh, and I wish to ride out on a mythical beast each show. Think about how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”