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Although many musicians have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they might decorate their album covers with ghouls, imps, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever needed to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has a performer taken the time peering in the back of a tour bus, repairing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, catchy songs to stunning concerts, attire styling, visuals and album art, they’re more than a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they have multiple performances in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. Everything was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘What if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a plague doctor (bass player), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands collaborating to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that positions them on the verge of far grander things.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a much better project,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of pride as a female in music doing everything solo. I’ve had numerous occasions where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on course for a fine art degree before balking at the prospect of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, costume design, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to figure it out as we go.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to create armor – a difficult task, though she confessedly entrusted her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “Everyone was in cloaks, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Everything is always failing and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that didn’t affect mythic characters. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because there is no an alternative version of the concert where I lack a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – we should play large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring everything is custom-made. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we scale to. Additionally, I desire to appear on a mythical beast every night. Think about how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? That, but with a unicorn.”