🔗 Share this article

While plenty of musicians have drawn from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the mythical existence. Certainly, they might embellish their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever needed to find a misplaced mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a performer devoted hours squinting in the rear of a road transport, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered such situations and others as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with knightly, catchy tunes to breathtaking performances, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, evokes images of famous rock groups uniting to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on track for a art school education before pulling back at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her completely original scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They embraced the fake blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is constantly breaking and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

There have been other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to keep true to, regardless of we grow into. Oh, and I want to ride out on a magical horse each show. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”