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Although plenty of musicians have borrowed from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Sure, they may decorate their record jackets with monsters, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to recover a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a tour bus, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and others as they live out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, catchy anthems to stunning live shows, costume design, music videos and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they have five gigs in the UK this week. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. It was all completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was electric. I realized, ‘What if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a medic from history (bass player), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a particular degree of accomplishment as a female in music working independently. There have been multiple instances where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on track for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover as we go.”

As if building the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the theatrical gore, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We played a show in Detroit and it seemed like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a mythic tale, then pack it down into nothing.”

There have been other logistical problems that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an alternative version of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is as far as possible – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure all elements is custom-made. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Plus, I wish to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. Remember how some artists use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”