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

Although numerous rockers have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they could adorn their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but did a member ever been forced to find a missing mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a performer taken the time squinting in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and others as they act out their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, catchy songs to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, videos and album art, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in a German city to a second one in another town – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – continued forward. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of classic metal icons uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that places them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a lot stronger project,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a certain amount of satisfaction being a woman in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

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 art school education before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, mastering post-production song visuals … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out 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 sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly left her brand-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the musicians. “We played a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in capes, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I get endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a van with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into a small space.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I want to go to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I want to ride out on a mythical beast each show. Think about how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”