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Although many artists have borrowed from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the enchanted way of life. Admittedly, they could embellish their record jackets with creatures, goblins, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to recover a missing mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Has a performer devoted hours squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and additional ones as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to eye-popping concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” explains singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a full-capacity concert in a German city to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. Everything was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I thought, ‘How about if we could have this much fun every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (bassist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “That contributed to a more powerful record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has increased, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a art school education before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They embraced the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We had a show in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley happily. “Everyone was in robes, wool garments, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a mythic tale, then store it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the concert where I lack a weapon.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure all elements is handmade. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I wish to appear on a mythical beast each show. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but on a mythical creature.”