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While plenty of musicians have drawn from epic fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they might decorate their album sleeves with creatures, beasts, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever have to find a lost unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Has a guitarist taken the time peering in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping performances, outfit creation, visuals and cover artwork, they’re more than a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “That contributed to a much better album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of pride being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express creativity,” she says. “Be it making masks, attire creation, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to figure it out as we go.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly delegated her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They embraced the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We played a gig in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, wool garments, armor.”

That’s not to imply, however, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a bus with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the performance where I lack a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the handmade style, ensuring each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we grow into. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a magical horse each show. You know how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”