🔗 Share this article

While plenty of rockers have drawn from fantasy lore, only a handful have genuinely embodied the enchanted existence. Certainly, they might adorn their record jackets with ghouls, imps, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they act out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, music videos and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing multiple performances in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the energy was unforgettable. I thought, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a pestilence physician (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction as a woman in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on course for a art school education before pulling back at the idea of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to figure it out in the moment.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They embraced the stage blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We performed a show in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “Everyone was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “All our gear is constantly breaking and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a van with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a mythic tale, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at a music event in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an backup plan of the performance where I lack a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I want to go to the top – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is preserving the handmade style, ensuring all elements is custom-made. It’s a component I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Oh, and I wish to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. Remember how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”