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While numerous rockers have borrowed from fantasy lore, few have fully embraced the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they may decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, beasts, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but has any musician ever have to retrieve a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Has a guitarist spent time squinting in the rear of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and more as they embody their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to stunning performances, costume design, visuals and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK now. “We played two shows and received an offer on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was incredible. I realized, ‘What if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a plague doctor (bassist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands joining forces to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of far grander things.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has increased, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on course for a art school education before balking at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, attire creation, figuring out video editing music videos … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to figure it out in the moment.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she confessedly left her brand-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We had a show in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley with affection. “All attendees was in robes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Everything is frequently damaged and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then store it into nothing.”

We faced additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an backup plan of the show where I don’t have a blade.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the future. “My goal is all the way – we should play large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, guaranteeing all elements is custom-made. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I want to appear on a mythical beast every night. You know how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”