Pilerats Confirms ‘Indefinite Hiatus’, Team Says It’s ‘No Longer Viable’ Economically

The team behind Australian music and lifestyle publication Pilerats have confirmed it’s “being put on indefinite hiatus”, effective immediately.

The news came in a press release sent today (July 8) by editor Will Backler, explaining that, “After much deliberation, this difficult decision has been made by parent company Made In The Pile Agency, with the unfortunate outcome that running an independent music and culture platform is no longer viable in our current economic environment.”

The statement goes on to stress that Pilerats “is not shutting down” permanently, with the website remaining active “as an archive of well over 10,000 articles”. The site itself will even receive a visual update in the near future, priming it to be “brought back in future when the time is right”.

Meanwhile, Made In The Pile will continue as its own entity, with the statement promising the agency will “grow from strength to strength, offering award winning, innovative campaigns for a wide range of clients across an array of industries”. The team say that by putting Pilerats on hiatus, they will “have even more room to grow”.

The statement continues with a message of gratitude for “everyone who has helped and supported Pilerats over the last decade plus, from the writers, photographers and contributors who have made the publication what it is, to the publicists pitching more than we could possibly cover in multiple lifetimes and of course, most importantly, all the amazing artists we’ve been able to feature.”

Pilerats was founded in 2011, launching as an “independent source for creative exploration”. The site has been described as “an arm round your shoulder, a guide/light in the dark, the annoying older brother or sister who think they're heaps cool and keeps showing you things they think are cool”. It was updated regularly until late May, with the last article published being a live review of The Snuts in Melbourne (Naarm).

In addition to its regular slate of music news, reviews, interviews and other editorial features, Pilerats was renowned for its visual output, particularly with the PileTV live sessions. It notably produced the video for Skrillex’s 2013 single Summit, which currently sits at over 187 million views on YouTube.