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While plenty of rockers have drawn from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Sure, they may embellish their album covers with monsters, beasts, captive women and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever have to retrieve a missing unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a performer taken the time squinting in the rear of a road transport, fixing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable anthems to stunning concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in a German city to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice 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 so much fun and the feeling in the room was incredible. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands joining forces to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the brink of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a much better project,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a woman in music going it alone. I’ve had numerous occasions where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on track for a university studies in art before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to learn as we go.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her all-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” remembers Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, armor.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets repaired with tape,” 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 only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because we don’t have an alternative version of the concert where I lack a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing everything is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we achieve. Plus, I wish to ride out on a magical horse each show. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”