‘Every Night, I Dream of Riding a Unicorn’: Fantasy-Themed Metal Band Castle Rat

Although numerous musicians have drawn from high fantasy, few have fully embraced the fantasy existence. Certainly, they may embellish their record jackets with creatures, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to recover a lost unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Has a performer spent time squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their grand tales. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a October show, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the energy was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and secretive shaman (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “That contributed to a lot stronger project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of pride as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where after a show and some guy will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on track for a university studies in art before balking at the idea of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express creativity,” she says. “From creating face coverings, costume design, learning how to edit song visuals … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though building the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We performed a show in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley happily. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, armor.”

That’s not to imply, though, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Everything is always failing and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a bus with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a mythic tale, then compress it into a small space.”

There have been other logistical problems that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the performance where I don’t have a weapon.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “My goal is to the top – we should play large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a mythical beast each show. Remember how some artists use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”