🔗 Share this article

While numerous musicians have drawn from high fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they may adorn their album sleeves with creatures, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever been forced to find a missing horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Has a performer taken the time peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a sold-out gig in a German city to another in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the energy was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands uniting to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that sets them on the brink of far grander things.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “This helped a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the breadth of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover as we go.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They loved the theatrical gore, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it seemed like a medieval event,” recalls Riley with affection. “Everyone was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

That’s not to imply, however, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a mythic tale, then compress it into a small space.”

We faced further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because there’s not an alternative version of the show where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure all elements is custom-made. This is a feature I want to keep true to, whatever we achieve. Oh, and I want to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. You know how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”