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Although many musicians have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the mythical lifestyle. Sure, they might decorate their record jackets with monsters, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Did a performer devoted hours squinting in the rear of a road transport, repairing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and others as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning concerts, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a medic from history (bass player), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the edge of bigger achievements.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “It made it a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction as a female in music doing everything solo. I’ve had so many times where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on track for a university studies in art before balking at the prospect of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s fun to discover as we go.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They embraced the theatrical gore, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We played a show in Detroit and it seemed like a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We faced additional practical issues that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a music event in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an backup plan of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I aim to reach to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure everything is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Oh, and I wish to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”