‘My Fantasy Is to Ride a Unicorn Nightly’: Medieval Metal Group Castle Rat

While plenty of musicians have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have fully embraced the enchanted existence. Certainly, they could decorate their album sleeves with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever have to find a missing unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Has a performer spent time squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and others as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, memorable tunes to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a packed show in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands joining forces to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “It made it a more powerful project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a specific level of pride as a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been numerous occasions where after a show and a person will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the breadth of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on track for a fine art degree before balking at the prospect of financial burden. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “From creating face coverings, attire creation, figuring out video editing clips … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the singer taught herself how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the theatrical gore, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “All our gear is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is preserving the handmade style, ensuring all elements is custom-made. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Oh, and I desire to appear on a unicorn each show. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”