🔗 Share this article

While many rockers have borrowed from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the mythical existence. Admittedly, they may decorate their album sleeves with creatures, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever been forced to recover a lost mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Did anyone taken the time straining their eyes in the back of a road transport, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they act out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, catchy anthems to eye-popping concerts, outfit creation, visuals and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a sold-out gig in a German city to one more in another town – they have several shows in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a medic from history (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands collaborating to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that places them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “It made it a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of accomplishment as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scope of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on course for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, learning how to edit music videos … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s fun to learn in the moment.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, though, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Each item is always failing and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a grand epic, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I want to go as far as possible – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, guaranteeing everything is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, whatever we achieve. Additionally, I want to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”