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Although plenty of musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the enchanted way of life. Admittedly, they may embellish their album covers with ghouls, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time squinting in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and additional ones as they act out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, memorable anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and record designs, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. Everything was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of famous rock groups uniting to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that sets them on the verge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of accomplishment as a female in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on track for a fine art degree before balking at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express creativity,” she says. “From making masks, costume design, mastering post-production song visuals … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and handmade props with as much gusto as the band. “We had a show in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I get countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a grand epic, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the performance where I don’t have a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure all elements is custom-made. This is a feature I want to keep true to, whatever we grow into. Oh, and I desire to ride out on a unicorn every night. You know how legends do the motorcycle thing? That, but with a unicorn.”