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While plenty of musicians have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they could adorn their record jackets with creatures, imps, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever been forced to recover a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time squinting in the rear of a road transport, fixing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and others as they act out their grand tales. Starting with knightly, catchy anthems to stunning performances, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitar player, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a sold-out gig in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of bigger achievements.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the scope of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before balking at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, attire creation, mastering post-production music videos … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s fun to learn in the moment.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They took to the fake blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the musicians. “We performed a show in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, armor.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the show where I lack a sword.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, making sure each detail is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I wish to appear on a magical horse each show. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”