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While numerous musicians have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Sure, they might decorate their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, captive women and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever been forced to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did anyone spent time squinting in the interior of a road transport, mending their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they embody their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable tunes to eye-popping concerts, attire styling, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” states vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in another town – they are playing multiple performances in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (bassist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a epic masterpiece that places them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a specific level of accomplishment as a female in music going it alone. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scope of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on course for a fine art degree before hesitating at the idea of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, learning how to edit clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s fun to learn as we go.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the theatrical gore, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a vehicle with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because we don’t have an alternative version of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I want to go all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure all elements is custom-made. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we grow into. Plus, I wish to appear on a magical horse every night. You know how legends do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”