Castle Rat are messengers of a vividly realized, immersive, and theatrical realm born from doom metal and high-concept fantasy. At the center stands the band’s mastermind, Riley Pinkerton, known on stage as the Rat Queen, a powerful, armored figure commanding a dark and mythical domain. What began as a spontaneous decision to costume her bandmates for a casual Halloween show has metastasized into a sprawling mythology populated by a plague doctor, a druid, and the cosmic Rat Reaperess. Pinkerton’s eyes light up when she speaks of her bandmates and the profound connection she shares with her fans, many of whom show up to gigs in full medieval costumes and chain mail.
Driven by an uncompromising DIY ethos, she hand-sculpts the weapons and giant puppets that populate the stage, channelling personal battles with death anxiety and the transformative clarity of newfound sobriety. We spoke with her about Castle Rat’s latest album, last year’s The Bestiary, the group’s mythos, and more.
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What first inspired you to create the Castle Rat universe? And how long did it take for the mythology, characters, and world to come together in your mind fully?
It was by accident that I started Castle Rat. We had got booked on a Halloween show as our third show ever, and I had a pretty last-minute decision to dress up and put together costumes for everyone. It was so much fun. I just figured, “Why not have this much fun all the time?”
So, the costumes were established, and then I like to have a reason for doing things. After the fact, I started writing the lore, putting all the pieces together, and giving the characters backstories. But that’s been an ongoing process since that fateful Halloween show.
You’ve spoken before about your hesitations to collaborate on The Bestiary because of the pressure women in metal face—like getting off stage and having people assume the men in the band wrote your riffs. How did the collaborative process for the album actually feel compared to Into the Realm, which you created completely on your own?
There were a lot of tears on my end; it was a rough summer anyway. But thankfully, the band is so supportive and we’re all pretty good about sharing our feelings and viewpoints on things, so we had a heart-to-heart circle where we could all hear where each person is coming from.
Something that I didn’t necessarily understand was their desire to contribute on the songwriting front. I was like, “Oh, Franco’s an amazing lead guitarist; he loves writing solos.” In my mind, I was like, “That’s what he loves to do.” I didn’t know that there was a desire to contribute riffs and more on that side of things.
So, that was eye-opening, and then to realize what a gift that is—to have started a project that people really want to invest in, not just time and energy, but creative ideas. I learned to set my ego aside somewhat and accept it for the gift that it is. The more collaborative songs on the album are some of the songs that I’m most proud of, and those are the ones I enjoy listening to the most, if I’m going to listen to our own music.
You’ve been candid about the fact that Castle Rat wouldn’t be sustainable without your sobriety. How did getting sober directly impact your ability to keep building and maintaining this band?
It allowed me to be so much more productive, and I’m really proud of how far I’ve come and how much my life has changed since then. I got sober during the pandemic, and I started Castle Rat in October 2019. It was basically right after starting the band that I got sober.
The workload that comes with Castle Rat in particular—where you have to show up, load in props, memorize an entire show start to finish with multiple speeches and battle scene choreography, and do my makeup each night—there would not be… I wouldn’t have the time or the energy or the presence to pull all that off if I weren’t sober. I’m glad that I figured it out for myself when I did.
You’ve stated that the Rat Queen’s live battle, where you die, spill blood, and resurrect, is a literal manifestation of your death anxiety. When you’re fully present in that moment on stage, how does it feel and has performing that confrontation with death altered your relationship to it?
Thankfully, I’m usually just trying really hard to remember the choreography. I’m focused on: okay, I duck here, and then I swipe here, and then I stab the Rat Reaperess, making sure I hit all the steps. I don’t have much room to be emotionally present with what it represents.
But I will say, having this band has provided a sense of relief to my death anxiety—maybe not by confronting it every night on stage, but because it’s such a fulfilling thing, and I feel so fortunate to be doing what we’re doing. I’ve found in the moments when I’m on tour and have intrusive thoughts of, “What if the bus rolls over?” Those things go through my mind sometimes, and I’m able to finally sort of answer them and be like, “Well, there would be nothing I could do about that if that happens. And I would go out doing what I love with the people I love.” That’s brought me a lot of peace.
I think it’s the first time that I’ve really lived so much that I am not consumed with a fear of death. A lot of times in my life, I would get so hung up on my fear that I would be afraid to go out and do things at all, to the point where it was very limiting. I feel very lucky. It’s a very unique position to be in.
In addition to the music, you physically build giant puppets, props, weapons, and stage pieces with your own hands. What does making those objects yourself add to Castle Rat that simply outsourcing them never could?
I have such a clear vision of how I want things, and it’s just so rewarding to create in that way. I have a background in visual arts, and it’s nice to be able to express both sides of myself rather than just musically—I can bring the artistic elements into it as well.
By having my thumbprint on everything on stage, it helps it feel really cohesive. Because anything I do is gonna be DIY just by the nature of it, I feel like that lends an element of authenticity that seems to really resonate with people. I think it comes across that this is stuff that’s handcrafted with this love, and we’re putting a lot of effort into putting on the kind of show that we’re putting on.
Because the band operates with such a tight conceptual world, it requires a lot of trust. When you brought the rest of the members into the realm, what was the specific quality you were looking for in them, not just as musicians, but as performers who could pull off this level of heavy metal theater?
It is almost an acting gig on top of it, so you do have to find the right people. Franco, in particular, his favorite band in the world is KISS. When he joined the band, he was like, “I was born for this band!” (laughs) He’s just an excellent showman. Josh is amazing as the Druid. He brings so much as a drummer and is constantly pulling faces, standing up while drumming, and just leans fully into it. Then Charlie, who’s the bass player and Plague Doctor, has the toughest job of all, which is being enclosed in a mask. In some ways it’s forgiving if you have your face covered, but logistically, it’s hard to see what you’re doing. But he also embodies the character so well and has such a presence on stage, even behind this sort of veil.
I just feel like I hit the jackpot with these guys. They’re all my best friends and such amazing performers. If three people were all in and one person wasn’t really… It’s such a delicate balance. What we’re doing at the end of the day is pretty goofy. If you have one person up there not totally selling it, it would set the whole thing off. It’s rare to find people who are just willing to go all in on something like this.
When you launched the Kickstarter, it blew past its goal in just 37 minutes and went on to become one of the most successful metal crowdfunding campaigns in over a decade. Given how much labor, lore, and DIY energy you pour into Castle Rat’s world-building, how did it feel to see that explosion of support from the fans?
It was incredible. It was not at all what I expected. How quickly it got funded was… I couldn’t wrap my head around it. It was really nice to see that we’re always putting in so much effort to make it the best thing it can be, and to see that reciprocated by so many people around the world, which was really mind-blowing, was so cool.
Then it also put on a certain amount of pressure. Obviously, we’re always gonna give it our all and we’d only release a record that we’re proud of, but there was a certain amount of like, oh, man, all these people are investing in a band that only has one album out. What if they don’t like it if the second one comes… But you can’t stay in that headspace or it’s impossible to create. Obviously, just endless gratitude to people who supported us to that degree. It was so cool.
A lot of your fans show up to the gigs in full medieval armor, cloaks, and chain mail. What’s it like to look out from the stage and see that the fantasy world you created has become a real living community?
It’s fantastic. It’s my favorite thing when we pull up to a show and we see a lot of costumes in the crowd. It’s what I love to do. Growing up, I loved going to Renaissance faires, and I love the escapism of fantasy and getting to be someone else—clearly, I based my whole career around that! (laughs)
I really want Castle Rat to create a sense of belonging, and to create any sort of community is such an honor. There have been a lot of times when I feel like I don’t belong in certain groups or have a hard time finding my place. So, I’m very glad to be a part of something that other people feel welcome to show up as whomever they want, however they want, any creature. It’s so inspiring and very exciting.
You’ve spoken about how Castle Rat is essentially a love letter to your inner child and the imaginary games you played on the playground. How does stepping into the Rat Queen persona help you connect with that younger version of yourself?
The Rat Queen is another part of myself. In a lot of ways, it’s useful to have a character. Obviously, my character wears chain mail, but the character itself is sort of like a suit of armor that’s very empowering to go out in. No matter how I was feeling that day about myself, as soon as I stepped on stage as the Rat Queen, I was embodying that—shoulders back, with all the confidence in the world, even if I’m not feeling that way, because that’s who the Rat Queen is.
There’s a certain boldness that comes with childhood, where you’re not limited so much. In elementary school, you’re not really so limited by judgment. Obviously, in middle school and high school that changes, but when you have that absolute freedom as a child to use your imagination, create amongst your peers, and just have fun—that sort of freedom is something I’m very much aiming to embody with Castle Rat. It’s just like, “Hey, I like this idea. I’m enjoying myself, and I’m all in on it.”
You grew up in Hell’s Kitchen and later Lake Orion, Michigan, raised by a single mother who is an artist. Your father was also a musician. Being surrounded by creativity from day one, how did having both parents in the arts impact your path?
It definitely helps to have parents where you don’t have to explain why it feels so important to do something like this with your life. If I had two parents who were bankers or something, they would maybe be like, “What are you doing?” They didn’t care about me not going to college; they supported me in that decision. My mom, especially from very early on, always made sure that I had access to art supplies and ways to express myself. I’m sure that has affected my confidence in a positive way to pick things up and try new things no matter what, so I am so grateful to her for that. Then, with my dad, genetics are a big factor. He’s a really amazing guitar player. I wouldn’t call myself an amazing guitar player, but I get by. It’s cool to be able to talk to him about stuff and ask him what his experiences were like in certain situations. I’m sure it’s interesting for him to see his daughter go down a similar path to his.
You’ve mentioned a deep affinity for talking to animals over people. How did that love for animals inspire the songs and stories on The Bestiary?
Yes, I’ve always felt more comfortable around animals. It made The Bestiary fun because it’s just every animal and creature, and every song is about that. There’s a lot of, within each song, a common thread of man versus nature.
I’m just so inspired by the imagery as well. My apartment is full of unicorn paintings and tapestries and I’m a secret, crazy horse girl, so I think my love for unicorns in particular stems from that.
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Every show features the call-and-response chant “Now is forever in this realm.” As a self-described introvert, how does it feel to lead a massive collective of strangers into that hyper-present headspace every night on tour?
That is the part of the show where I tend to get the most emotional, especially the final chant of the show, because to truly lock into a present moment like that with a large group of people is unlike any other thing that I’ve experienced.
Yes, I am very much an introvert. There’s an element of safety from the stage. Otherwise, I get a bit nervous in crowds. If I were out in the audience, I’d probably be feeling overwhelmed. But to connect with people like that—it’s what the chant is about. “Now is forever” is to keep in mind to not live in the past and to not overthink about the future. The only constant is the here and now. The flip side of that is now is constantly changing, but the nowness is forever. That’s also in response to my death anxiety, and the best way to sort of fend off that fear is by focusing on living.
When the internet started buzzing with rumors that the band was an industry plant due to its quick success and high-end visual aesthetics, how did you interpret that skepticism?
I just think it’s funny. I’ve been laughing at it because I know who we are and what we are, and it also feels like a compliment. I started this thing from the ground up, ran the Instagram up until a few months ago, did all the marketing, and I’m just some girl. I’m not a professional social media person or a professional anything. I am just persistent, and I like to get my hands on a lot of different aspects. So, the fact that people think that there’s some mastermind group of suits behind this whole thing making it what it is, when in reality it’s just my goofy ass (laughs), I think it is a compliment.
There’s a way to look at it, too, where you’re like, oh, all my hard work is being diminished and people are trying to invalidate it, but I think it’s better to look at it as a compliment. The people that come to our shows know who we are and what we’re doing. It’s just for people who aren’t gonna take the time to do any sort of research and they just want to brush off the fact that there’s a girl fronting a metal band.
If resources and physics were no limit, what’s the ultimate, wildest theatrical stunt or set piece that you would want to introduce to a Castle Rat performance?
No limitation on physics? Then I would definitely want to fly out on stage on the castle rat. Like full on Taarna from Heavy Metal style.
Your upcoming headlining run is called The Summons of the Beast tour. Can fans expect some new beasts or characters to join the battle on stage, or will the lore of The Bestiary be expanding visually?
Yeah, the plan is I’m gonna spend the next few months creating some more masks. We had the wolf mask that’s in the music video for “Wolf One”, and we also had it on tour last year. My plan is to make some more beast masks similar to that and to also have a wizard portrayed on stage, which we didn’t do in the U.S. We sort of hinted at that when we toured in Europe, but it wasn’t fully realized. It was sort of a last-minute decision on my end.
I want to be more illustrative of the storyline of The Beastiary, and we’re also going to be traveling with all three stage actresses who have played the Rat Reaperess in the past, because that’s a rotating role. It’s whoever’s available for the tour; they’re all amazing dancers and choreographers who are busy doing their things. It’s nice to have options, but it’ll be the first time that we can afford to bring three extra people on the road. That way, we can have multiple characters on stage at the same time, which is really fun. In the past, The Rat Reaperess does a quick change into the Castle Rat and comes out, or into the wolf. I think it’ll make everyone’s life a lot easier and less stressful, hopefully.
You’ve mentioned that you don’t actually view the Rat Reaperess as evil, that she’s just doing her job as death, and it’s more about life versus death than good versus evil. How did you first map out that dynamic, and how do you keep that stage rivalry fresh when you’re touring and facing off every single night?
The life versus death rather than good versus evil is more my internal mindset and how I feel about the lore. The first battle choreography was done by Maddie Wright, and then when we’ve done the Bestiary show, it has a different battle scene, and that was with Maddie, and then I tweaked it with Becca Corrigan, and then Reagan Smith is the other Rat Reaperess.
It’s pretty easy to get hyped for the battle scene because the audience is always so into it. Our running joke is that whoever’s playing the Rat Reaperess knows they’re doing a good job if they get booed. When they come out, that means the crowd is fully engaged, and we do frame it that the Rat Reaperess is the heel in order to get the crowd hyped, and it’s always fun.
Usually, we have little things that we do to keep ourselves entertained on stage. Charlie, the plague doctor, will oftentimes on the sly—where the audience can’t see it—flip off the Rat Reaperess when she comes on stage or when she’s leaving the stage. And then, the move where I’m stabbing the Rat Reaperess and she’s on the ground, when I bend over, I usually make a funny noise at her. There are a few photos actually from this last tour where Reagan’s getting stabbed, and someone took a photo and she just has this huge grin on her face because I’m making stupid sounds to make her laugh. It’s always so fun.
You’ve talked about wanting Castle Rat to keep expanding musically beyond traditional doom metal, bringing in folk elements and unexpected influences. What are some creative territories you’re most excited to explore?
With the next album, which we are starting to write, a lot of our reference points are more ‘ 90s-leaning, which I’m really excited about. I think the beauty of Castle Rat is that the lore includes time travel, so it gives us a lot of freedom to explore a variety of influences from different decades or eras. It’s important to me to have the freedom to express musically, since we are locked into costumes and a storyline. There are a lot of things that I don’t think Castle Rat would ever be able to step away from. So to be able to stretch our legs musically and explore a different version of our sonic palette is a good thing.
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The Bestiary is available now.