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Billy Nomates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Billy Nomates
Billy Nomates singing onstage
Billy Nomates in 2023
Background information
Also known asBilly Nomates
Born
Victoria Ann Maries

(1990-05-02) 2 May 1990 (age 35)
Leicester, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • synthesizers
Years active2020–present
LabelsInvada
Website[1]

Victoria Ann "Tor" Maries[2] (born 2 May 1990) is an English musician and singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name Billy Nomates.

Life

[edit]

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.[3] Her stage name, Billy Nomates, was taken from an insult directed at her when she turned up at a gig on her own.[4] In 2024, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.[5][6]

Music

[edit]
Billy Nomates at the Strom Club in Munich, 2023

Maries' first album was recorded in Bristol with Portishead's Geoff Barrow.[3] She released this in 2020[7] and quickly gained attention from BBC Radio 6 Music.[3] She describes her music as no wave.[4] Critics make mention of post-punk and describe her delivery as sprechgesang.[3][4] 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.[8]

Maries's second album, Cacti, was released in 2023.[9] Later that year, after playing a set at Glastonbury that used a backing track instead of live music,[6] Maries received what she called an "insane" amount of online abuse and requested BBC Radio 6 Music to remove footage of her performance from their web pages, a request the BBC complied with.[10][11] Fellow musicians such as Billy Bragg, the Anchoress, and Lonelady expressed their support for Maries and criticised the misogynistic character of the abuse.[12] Maries initially vowed never to perform live again after the incident, and even considered leaving music altogether, but eventually recovered on both fronts.[5][6]

Maries's third album, Metalhorse, was released in 2025 and was the first Billy Nomates project where Maries worked with other musicians instead of performing all musical aspects herself, with Mandy Clarke being her bassist and Liam Chapman her drummer.[5] A tour showcasing the album took place that autumn and began with a benefit gig for the MS Society.[6]

Reception

[edit]
Billy Nomates at the Valkhof Festival, 2022

BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Amy Lamé chose Maries's debut as her Album of the Year in 2020.[13] The Guardian's Laura Snapes picked out Maries as one to watch in 2020, describing her voice as "deadpan yet biting", offering "an acute lens on British class structure".[3]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]

EPs

[edit]
  • Emergency Telephone (2021)

Music videos

[edit]
Year Title Director Album
2020 "No" Jack Joseph & Bobby Spender Billy Nomates
"FNP" n/C
2021 "Heels" Jack Joseph Dalby & Bobby Spender Emergency Telephone
2022 "Blue Bones" Tia Salisbury Cacti
"Balance is Gone" NWSPK
"Saboteur Forcefield" John Minton
"Spite" NWSPK

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Archived Official Website". Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  2. ^ "BALANCE IS GONE". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Snapes, Laura (1 August 2020). "One to watch: Billy Nomates". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Billy Nomates review – post-punk soloist could do with some company". The Guardian. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Jack, Malcolm (18 May 2025). "Billy Nomates on her MS diagnosis, nearly quitting music and why online trolls only make her stronger". The Big Issue. Archived from the original on 19 May 2025. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d O'Neill, Sean (18 September 2025). "'I'm determined to go on' — Billy Nomates, the punk star living with MS". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  7. ^ Murphy, Lauren (7 August 2020). "Billy Nomates: Billy Nomates review – One of the quirkier albums of the year". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ Pilley, Max (4 March 2021). "Billy Nomates – 'Emergency Telephone' EP review: dial into one of Britain's most distinctive new voices". NME.
  9. ^ Pilley, Max (10 January 2023). "Billy Nomates: "I'm a woman in the modern world, of course I'm angry!"". NME. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  10. ^ Geraghty, Hollie (26 June 2023). "BBC removes Billy Nomates Glastonbury clip after online abuse". NME. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  11. ^ Savage, Mark (30 May 2024). "CMAT attacks 'fat shaming' comments on BBC video". BBC News. Retrieved 12 December 2025. However, it is not the first time the BBC has had to police comments on clips from music festivals. Last summer, BBC 6 Music deleted a video of indie singer Billy NoMates performing at Glastonbury following a barrage of criticism.
  12. ^ Aubrey, Elizabeth (24 June 2023). "Billy Bragg shares support for "brilliant" Billy Nomates after online abuse". NME. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ "6 Music Recommends Albums Of The Year 2020". BBC Radio 6 Music.
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