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While numerous musicians have drawn from epic fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical existence. Sure, they may decorate their album covers with ghouls, beasts, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but has any musician ever have to recover a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Has anyone taken the time peering in the rear of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and others as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, memorable songs to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and record designs, they’re more than a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” explains singer, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – never turned back. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of pride as a female in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the scope of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on track for a art school education before pulling back at the prospect of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, costume design, learning how to edit clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They took to the theatrical gore, toy blades and handmade props with as much gusto as the band. “We played a show in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “All attendees was in robes, sheepskin, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is always failing and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the show where I don’t have a blade.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the future. “My goal is as far as possible – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is preserving the handmade style, ensuring all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we achieve. Additionally, I want to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”