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Although many musicians have borrowed from fantasy lore, only a handful have truly lived the enchanted existence. Admittedly, they might embellish their record jackets with ghouls, goblins, captive women and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever been forced to retrieve a misplaced unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Has anyone spent time squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and more as they embody their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable songs to eye-popping live shows, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a sold-out gig in a German city to another in another town – they are playing five gigs in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. Everything was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the verge of bigger achievements.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “It made it a more powerful project,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has increased, so has the breadth of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on course for a art school education before balking at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “From creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer taught herself how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the band. “We performed a gig in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “Everyone was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Everything is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, whatever we achieve. Plus, I desire to ride out on a unicorn every night. Think about how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”