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While many artists have drawn from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the mythical way of life. Sure, they could adorn their album sleeves with creatures, goblins, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but did a member ever needed to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a performer devoted hours peering in the back of a tour bus, mending their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and more as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with knightly, catchy tunes to eye-popping live shows, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in Cologne to one more in another town – they have five gigs in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of famous rock groups uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that places them on the brink of far grander things.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction as a female in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a university studies in art before balking at the idea of financial burden. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, attire creation, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly left her all-new scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in robes, animal hides, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there’s not an alternative version of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “My goal is 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 each detail is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I wish to ride out on a mythical beast every night. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? That, but using a unicorn.”