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While numerous artists have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the fantasy lifestyle. Certainly, they might adorn their album covers with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever have to recover a missing mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a performer spent time squinting in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and more as they live out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, catchy songs to breathtaking live shows, outfit creation, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK now. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement always?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of classic metal icons joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful record,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has increased, 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 laughs. Initially, she was on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it making masks, attire creation, learning how to edit clips … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They took to the stage blood, toy blades and handmade props with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a gig in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a van with only so much space. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a mythic tale, then store it into nothing.”

We faced further organizational challenges that would never have plagued mythic characters. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an alternative version of the show where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is all the way – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, guaranteeing each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I want to ride out on a mythical beast every night. Think about how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”