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While numerous musicians have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the enchanted lifestyle. Certainly, they could adorn their album covers with ghouls, imps, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever been forced to retrieve a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours peering in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and others as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, earworm-heavy songs to eye-popping concerts, costume design, visuals and album art, they’re more than a rock act as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in Cologne to another in another town – they have multiple performances in the UK now. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all completely self-made, but we had a blast and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that places them on the edge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger project,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of accomplishment as a woman in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to learn as we go.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to create armor – no mean feat, though she confessedly left her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We played a show in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, wool garments, armor.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “All our gear is frequently damaged and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a mythic tale, then compress it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there’s not an backup plan of the show where I lack a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the future. “My goal is to the top – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is preserving the handmade style, guaranteeing everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I desire to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”