‘My Fantasy Is to Ride a Unicorn Nightly’: Swords’n’Sorcery Heavy Metal Group Castle Rat

Although numerous musicians have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they might embellish their album covers with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to retrieve a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time squinting in the rear of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered such situations and others as they embody their grand tales. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking live shows, costume design, music videos and record designs, they’re more than a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing several shows in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups uniting to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the verge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a specific level of pride as a woman in music working independently. There have been multiple instances where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on course for a art school education before balking at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express creativity,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, mastering post-production song visuals … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though building the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a show in the Motor City and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “All our gear is constantly breaking and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a mythic tale, then compress it into nothing.”

We faced further organizational challenges that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there is no an backup plan of the show where I lack 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 huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the handmade style, making sure all elements is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a magical horse each show. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”