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While many rockers have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have truly lived the fantasy existence. Sure, they might embellish their record jackets with monsters, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever been forced to recover a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did anyone spent time straining their eyes in the back of a tour bus, fixing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, memorable tunes to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, music videos and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. It was all highly handmade, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (bassist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. Their latest album, the follow-up record, evokes images of legendary heavy bands joining forces to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that positions them on the verge of greater success.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “It made it a more powerful record,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a particular degree of satisfaction as a female in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express creativity,” she says. “From making masks, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly delegated her all-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They took to the theatrical gore, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the group. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, though, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because we don’t have an backup plan of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the future. “I want to go as far as possible – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring everything is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Plus, I want to appear on a mythical beast every night. Think about how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”