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While plenty of artists have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the enchanted existence. Certainly, they might adorn their album covers with creatures, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but did a member ever have to recover a lost mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did anyone spent time straining their eyes in the back of a tour bus, mending their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and more as they embody their grand tales. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy tunes to breathtaking performances, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a pestilence physician (bassist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that places them on the brink of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “This helped a lot stronger album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a female in music going it alone. I’ve had numerous occasions where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to learn in the moment.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her all-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the group. “We had a show in the Motor City and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, animal hides, armor.”

That’s not to imply, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I get numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an alternative version of the concert where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, guaranteeing everything is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we achieve. Plus, I want to ride out on a unicorn each show. You know how some artists ride bikes on stage? That, but using a unicorn.”