🔗 Share this article

Although many rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they could decorate their album covers with ghouls, beasts, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever have to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and others as they live out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable songs to stunning performances, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” says singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the energy was unforgettable. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a medic from history (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of famous rock groups joining forces to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that sets them on the verge of greater success.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “It made it a much better project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been multiple instances where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on path for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s fun to learn on the fly.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the vocalist self-educated how to create armor – no mean feat, though she confessedly left her brand-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They embraced the fake blood, soft weapons and handmade props with similar excitement as the group. “We played a show in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” recalls Riley with affection. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Everything is always failing and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a grand epic, then pack it down into nothing.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the concert where I don’t have a weapon.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, ensuring each detail is custom-made. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we scale to. Plus, I desire to ride out on a unicorn every night. You know how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”