Billy Nomates

Tor Maries (born 2 May 1990) is an English musician and songwriter who performs under the stage name Billy Nomates.

Life

Maries grew up in Leicester and was a member of a number of bands that failed to be noticed. Following a period of depression, a Sleaford Mods gig inspired Maries to return to making music and she moved to Bournemouth to write and compose. Her stage name, Billy Nomates, was taken from an insult directed at her when she turned up at the gig on her own.

Music

Maries' first album was recorded in Bristol with Portishead's Geoff Barrow. She released this in 2020 and quickly gained attention from BBC Radio 6 Music. She describes her music as no wave. Critics make mention of post-punk and describe her delivery as sprechgesang. She featured on "Mork n Mindy" by Sleaford Mods in 2021. She released the Emergency Telephone EP in October 2021, produced by herself on Barrow's Invada record label.

Reception

BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Amy Lamé chose Billy Nomates's debut as her Album of the Year in 2020. The Guardian's Laura Snapes picked out Billy Nomates as one to watch in 2020, describing her voice as "deadpan yet biting", offering "an acute lens on British class structure".

After playing a set at Glastonbury Festival 2023, Billy Nomates received what she called an "insane" amount of online abuse and requested BBC Radio 6 Music remove footage of her performance from their web pages. Fellow musicians such as Billy Bragg, The Anchoress and Lonelady expressed their support for Billy Nomates, calling out the misogynistic and sexist character of the abuse.

Discography

Studio albums

• Billy Nomates (2020)
• Cacti (2023)

EPs

• Emergency Telephone (2021)

Music videos