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Although many artists have taken inspiration from high fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the enchanted way of life. Sure, they may decorate their record jackets with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever have to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has anyone spent time peering in the back of a tour bus, mending their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and more as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning live shows, attire styling, music videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “We played two shows and got booked on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was electric. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun every time?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a plague doctor (bassist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. Their latest album, the follow-up record, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of far grander things.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “That contributed to a much better album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been numerous occasions where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a university studies in art before balking at the prospect of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover in the moment.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the band. “We had a concert in Detroit and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley with affection. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then pack it down into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the show where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I aim to reach to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we scale to. Plus, I want to appear on a unicorn at all performances. You know how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”