‘I Want to Ride Out on a Unicorn Every Night’: Medieval Metal Group Castle Rat

Although plenty of artists have drawn from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they may adorn their album covers with monsters, imps, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever been forced to find a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer taken the time peering in the interior of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and additional ones as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning concerts, attire styling, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (bass player), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the verge of far grander things.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of pride being a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been so many times where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on course for a art school education before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, mastering post-production song visuals … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though building the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We played a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “Everyone was in capes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

We faced further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I want to go as far as possible – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we grow into. Plus, I wish to appear on a mythical beast every night. You know how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”