🔗 Share this article

While numerous rockers have drawn from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the mythical way of life. Certainly, they may embellish their record jackets with monsters, goblins, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but did a member ever been forced to find a misplaced mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a performer spent time straining their eyes in the rear of a road transport, repairing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their grand tales. From knightly, memorable songs to eye-popping performances, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a full-capacity concert in a German city to another in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of famous rock groups uniting to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction as a female in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a art school education before hesitating at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, costume design, mastering post-production song visuals … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to figure it out as we go.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to create armor – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her brand-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They took to the theatrical gore, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley with affection. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a bus with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then store it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at a music event in the European country and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an alternative version of the concert where I don’t have a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “My goal is as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is handmade. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I desire to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. You know how some artists ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”