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Although many artists have drawn from high fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the fantasy existence. Certainly, they could adorn their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever have to find a misplaced unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time squinting in the interior of a traveling vehicle, mending their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and more as they act out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, memorable anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to another in another town – they have several shows in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was unforgettable. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun every time?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of legendary heavy bands collaborating to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “This helped a lot stronger project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a certain amount of pride being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has expanded, so has the breadth 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 path for a university studies in art before balking at the prospect of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production song visuals … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to learn on the fly.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We had a gig in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley with affection. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with only so much space. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then store it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an backup plan of the performance where I am without a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I want to go to the top – we should play large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, ensuring each detail is handmade. It’s a component I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I want to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. You know how legends do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”