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While numerous musicians have drawn from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they might adorn their record jackets with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever have to recover a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist spent time peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and others as they live out their grand tales. From knightly, earworm-heavy anthems to stunning performances, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they are playing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of famous rock groups collaborating to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “This helped a much better album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before balking at the idea of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, attire creation, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to learn on the fly.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They embraced the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the group. “We had a show in the Motor City and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley with affection. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into nothing.”

We faced further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because we don’t have an backup plan of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I want to go all the way – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is preserving the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I want to appear on a unicorn each show. You know how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but on a mythical creature.”