‘Every Night, I Dream of Riding a Unicorn’: Swords’n’Sorcery Heavy Metal Band Castle Rat

Although plenty of musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, few have fully embraced the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they could decorate their album covers with monsters, beasts, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever have to retrieve a lost horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours peering in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they act out their grand tales. Starting with heraldic, memorable anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a packed show in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the energy was incredible. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a medic from history (bassist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of classic metal icons uniting to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “That contributed to a lot stronger project,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of accomplishment as a female in music doing everything solo. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on course for a fine art degree before balking at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, attire creation, mastering post-production song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to discover in the moment.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her brand-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the theatrical gore, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the group. “We performed a show in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “Everyone was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

This isn’t to say, though, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Everything is always failing and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a bus with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the show where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, making sure each detail is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Additionally, I want to ride out on a mythical beast every night. Think about how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”